Interview With the Matriarch
by IA Unlimited
Summary: The prequel to Origin of the Circle- The Bone Matriarch, a woman of both tact and tactless personality, tells her story to a Warden of Longbow about a mass murderer loose in the Isles: His life, his deeds, and how she's involved with the criminals therein
1. Chapter 1

**Interview with the Matriarch**

**Chapter One: Poor, poor, Harold.**

The Matriarch laughed. It seemed she'd never stop. It was one of those helpless infectious laughs that would have the whole room giggling if it wasn't full of grim longbow operatives. Inquisitor Rommel had the look of total exasperation he always had when the Bone Matriarch was in his care. Despite orders otherwise, he desired to shoot her right in the middle of her painted head. She was obnoxious, contrary, smug, but one of the best sources of information that the organization Longbow had.

"How's the eye, Mikey?"

The rifleman dubbed Mikey sneered, "My name is Harold."

The Nullifier next to him jabbed him in the kidney. "Don't talk to her!"

"God, you had that black eye for a month! Put a steak on it, for chrissakes! Trust me, Bobbie. It works wonders.

The rifleman turned red. His right eye had been pitch black where the matriarch had given him a "love jab." The actual bruise had been gone after a week, but the black stain remained. She never let an opportunity to give him grief about it.

The interrogator sighed. "Bone, can we get on with this? Some of us have plans."

"Fine, fine. You got it. I've got people to do, things to meet." She cracked her knuckles and made Harold flinch again. She gave him a sidelong smirk. "Sorry Freddie."

The Bone Matriarch then gave the interrogator her full attention, and Interrogator Warden Rommel gave her his. She wore what she always wore, nothing that really screamed "super villain," but that was her occupation. She wore what was functional, not spandex or low cut revealing clothing, she didn't need to distract her foes. Her black bandanna kept her purple dyed hair out of her eyes and her just-barely tinted sunglasses gave her a look of eclectic style. The rest of her clashed with this suggestive theme. Her face had a skull painted on it, 24/7, which matched her tattoo, another skull just beneath her neckline, the namesake of her gang, the skulls. She wore a Black leather jacket with several near-miss cuts and holes in it, each a badge in her superior reflexes. Another, larger skull adorned her right shoulder, and under the jacket, a normal tank top that showed just enough cleavage to show she was hot to trot, but not to grab focus. She wore two fingerless gloves to protect her vicious weapons, her two fists. A pair of tough, heavy jeans tight enough to keep from catching, but not tight enough to burst during a lot of stress. A designer pair of sneakers completed the ensemble. She might as well have something nice, she figured. Overall, modest and practical.

Rommel gave her the usual speech about confidentiality and such, and he could already see her attention wane, slowly drifting back to make fun of poor Harold, or to poke at the nullifier's thighs, perhaps. He decided to get this show on the road. "Bone, there's a new villain on the scene lately, he's caused a lot of damage, we need to know who he is, and how to stop him. What can you tell us?" He folded his hands, half waiting, half praying she didn't ramble on about some unrelated topic.

"Well, Rommie, there's about a million villains on the scene, how about some clue to who you're talking about?" She copied his stance.

He narrowed his eyes. "You know damn well who I mean, if you have the contacts you say you do. But, if you want to play the game, I have a report to show you." He produced a folder from his briefcase, and started to read from a paper stapled to about fifty more. "At 0400 hours Monday morning, a longbow squad was interrupted in its patrol in Nerva Archipelago by a so called "shadow." They believed it to be nothing more than a Circle trick or possibly a Stalker type villain with poor stealth capabilities. However, instead of any "assassination strikes" upon the team, it instead burst from the undergrowth and promptly "exploded" in the midst of the longbow patrol. Numerous puncture wounds killed 19 of the 20 in that patrol. We could NOT resurrect them. They weren't teleported back to base, except for the one who gave us the report. The only other thing he could report was a "feeling of intense fear," but seeing how the nature of the assault was unexpected and brutal, that doesn't mean any supernatural powers were in effect." Rommel put down the report and his reading glasses. "Now, what do you have to say? Who is this murderer? He's been able to kill 13 other operatives while disabling their teleported beacons, all with the same wounds, but no weapons. Though similar to our spines scrappers, there's never a sign of the spines themselves. Its like he knew where they were ahead of time and mutilated their bodies to interfere with their connection."

"Oh, you mean the chips in your left boot?"

Rommel glared at Bone. "No."

Bone leaned forward. "I know who you're talking about. But you don't want to know who he is." She lounged again.

Rommel straightened his back. He responded in a tired tone, "Yes bone, we DO want to know he is. He's a threat to everyone, even you villains. We've found bodies of several meta humans involved with heists with the same wounds and same lingering darkness trails."

Bone shrugged her shoulders. "I'll tell you about him. But I won't tell you his name. You'll figure that out on your own. Give you something to do."

Rommel unfolded his laptop for his personal notes. The debriefings were always taped, but this way he'd have something for himself. "How much do you know about this individual?"

The Bone Matriarch, the Skull Mother, the Skeleton Queen gave a wide smile. "Why my dear warden, I know everything. Where should I begin?"

Once again frowning at her smugness, he replied, "At the beginning, if you will."

The Matriarch sighed, and painted a thoughtful look that countered the grim skull that adorned her face. "I first met him in Kings Row, but his story starts in the Rogue Isles. That's where he was born. However he was sent by his mother to his father, who lived in Kings Row." Bone traced little squiggles in the air with her story. The warden typed furiously to keep up with her loosening tongue. He knew once he got her going, she'd never repeat herself. "He lived with his father and his older cousin. In one big house. One of the nicer ones, actually, I've had the honor of cruising its halls once."

Rommel looked up from his screen "You've been to his house? When? What was your affiliation with him?"

Bone winked at him through her blue shades. "When I was Nineteen. He was my… how should I say this?"

Rommel hated her guessing games. "He was your friend?"

"No, no warden, I don't have friends. I have allies. You let friends into the equation and things go horribly wrong. Just ask Bonesnapper. You know my story. Its recorded in the anals of longbow!"

"That's "annuls," bone."

"You heard me."

Rommel sighed. "Continue"

"This was before that whole disaster anyhow, life was good. I never attended school, I was out all night, and I had a horde of bleating sheep bowing before me!" Bone gestured like an empress to an invisible crowd. "That, and I got to hang in an alley most of the day."

Rommel rolled his eyes.

"I was seventeen. I met him when my skull buddies were pushing him around, he was just a scrawny runt back then, but even then he had an otherworldly aura about him. I think he was fourteen, if I remember. Still attended school unlike many youths his age in the 'Row. He stood over a little girl who, I suppose, was the object of my skull friends' fun to begin with. But, he was a brave child, he actually stood his ground to the two of them, who were older than me even, and about a hundred pounds heavier. Ah, they sure did make skulls back in the day. I watched him and he watched me out of the corner of his eye. I wasn't really sure what to make out of that. A kid that young should have been focused on the two goons in front. They pushed and shoved, and taunted him, and suddenly, one yelped with a gash in his hand. I missed what happened myself, but the next thing I knew was that little twig had jumped on the other and was pummeling him in the face with his little muscles. He clung to his torso like a rabid marmoset… or something to that degree. I saw a fury in his eyes that spoke to me. It wasn't the self-righteous anger I see in those damned heroes. I see it in all of the dregs and druggies I consort with. He had been wronged and he needed an outlet. However, though entertaining, I couldn't let him be an example to the other citizens to stand up to us. Therefore, I had to put a stop to this myself. I walked towards the child who instantaneously shot his head back up to focus on me. Underestimating me like so many others, he leaped towards me while the younger girl ran off towards what I assumed was home. He never even got close to me. I had been fighting newbie heroes since I was fifteen, and though I often lost back then, I had fighting down to a carefully constructed dance of pain and misery. Having control of the powers of darkness don't hurt neither, eh?"

Bone gestured in the air, trailing a wavy pattern of inky shadows. She paid special attention to one finger. Harold grumbled. "So of course, I pummeled him into the ground and threw him into a garbage can. Then, I threw the garbage can down the hill. It rebounded several times off of different objects: poles, buildings…people… cars….. What proved my suspicions earlier was that the can wobbled a couple moments later and he popped out dazed and only half conscious. Any normal child wouldn't have been able to survive the trip. While my minions licked their wounds I was strolling through crowds and standing by his limp form. I crouched down and whispered seductively in his ear." Bone gave a quick shrug. "Well, really, anything would be seductive for him. He was a bubbling crock pot full of testosterone and anger, but lets not get into semantics here. I said to him, "If you want another lesson, come back. I'll give you another go, boy." And I'll never forget what he said to me."

The warden, self consciously drawn in to this unusually involved story, asked, "What did he say?"

Bone laughed again. "Bitch!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: Flashback - to back**

When Bone was freed from a case of the mad giggles, she sighed and continued her story.

"Now, interestingly enough, the kid stuck around in my thoughts for quite a while, and eluded my ADD for a couple weeks. The more and more I thought about him, the stranger the situation became. First and foremost, the boy's appearance was unlike the girl he had with him, though I found out later they were related. Cousins, in fact. They were both black, but while she was definitely of the African American variety, he was just plain black. And I mean BLACK. Paint black. Obsidian. Inky black. Ya'know, stuff like that. He didn't exactly have the same characteristics of the modern black youth, anyhow. He had a streamlined face and body, and didn't carry himself in any gangsta' fashion the kids were so into. When he was facing my boys, he was thrust forward and almost hunched, like an animal. Every muscle was tensed, ready to spring. He bared his teeth, and I coulda sworn I saw fangs too, but that could have been just my imagination. It was obvious the kid had gotten into fights habitually. The scratch my gravedigger had swelled and turned red, it burned like, and I quote, "A Muthafucka." And here's the kicker, the most prevailing feature was his hair, it was completely bone white. It wasn't bleached, it was white. Trust me, I can tell the difference." Bone tossed her purple tresses and smirked.

While Bone had been talking, Rommel brought up files for many of the meta humans that came from kings row, heroes and villains, and normal folks as well. Multitasked with typing all she said, it was an impressive feat, but then he'd had practice.

Bone put on a thoughtful face and again traveled into the past. "I saw him several more times during the next couple of weeks. I think he must have walked past our alley on the way home from school, with that girl of his. He'd just glare our way, and the girl would hide behind him. I'd wave, and he'd flick us off. I decided I liked this one. Be that as it may, he otherwise avoided us until summer came upon us. I was in the back of the alley, handling…" The Bone Matriarch rolled her eyes. Rommel knew of her drug deals, but said nothing. "…Business. It was booming, by the way. Rage was all the rage!"

She paused a bit just to notice everyone trying their best to ignore the pun. "The only reason I knew something was up was the racket my boys were making. Seems the little bastard was back, and jumped off something or other right on top of 'em. He bruised the guy a bit, but then ran like hell before the rest of the Diggers could mob him. They chased him for a couple blocks, they were gone for a good ten minutes. The one he had ambushed sat on a garbage can and nursed his scratches and bruises. It was impressive one so young could hurt him. Even more impressive was the fact that while I watched my boy Eddie lick his wounds and mutter obscenities, he was soon back on the ground with a Louisville slugger upside his head. The 'lil demon shot towards me without pause and tried his luck again. I suppose he thought alone, I'd have less morale or something, I dunno. His ride down the hill was in a full garbage can this time. Oh, and he DID hit a car. He still never even touched me."

"This actually repeated over and over until each one of my boys had a little run in with the kid. Some gave him a run for his money, the others got blindsided. The Death Heads did a lot better, of course, they had been in action for a long time, and had enough pain tolerance to strike back much more quickly. Pretty soon, the only one who hadn't been scratched a bit was me. Every time he showed up in the alley, he took a ride down the hill. The kids of Kings Row and even some of the adults got into it, too. I hear there were even bets going on how many times he'd survive. But he always did. Sometimes he'd be back the next day, when normal teens would be in bed for weeks. I had my own theories why. A full year after he started his rampage, he walked directly into our alley, and most of the guys were just too stunned to act. Gravedigger Eddie, however, (by the way, I really should promote him one of these days,) went for him on sight. He flying tackled the little brat and held him down. The rest of the gang grabbed sledges, bats, their pistols, what have you, and advanced, fully intent on ending the odd threat. The kid however, just yelled " I wanna talk to her! Let me go!" Eddie grunted, and the kid convulsed under his grasp, but he didn't let up. I however, was not to let such a nasty little bugger chock full of chaotic potential go to waste. I whistled, and Eddie steadily, though painfully grabbed him and pushed him towards me. Obedience I accept, but guts was a trait that was even more desirable. I'd listen to him, THEN pummel him. Eddie's clothes were ripped and holes ravaged his jacket. He was bleeding in several areas, but he ignored the pain and sat down, glaring at the kid with angry eyes. Possibly even jealousy."

Rommel had pictures of every major player in this story projected on the wall so far, the Bone Matiarch herself, the Gravedigger Eddie, and a shot of a dark splotch a camera picked up from the subject of her story. Bone fleetingly wondered if he'd make a PowerPoint presentation with all these little pictures, facts and graphs, shrugged, and continued her story.

"The kid was scrapper, there was no doubt about it. He had natural ability, but I couldn't decide if he was naïve, or just stupid to pull a stunt like this. Either or, his request surprised even me. He looked me right in the eyes and said, "I want you to teach me how to fight." The boys had a nice chuckle at that, and I only wondered why he thought I wouldn't just cream him right then and there. I said, "And why would I even begin to, remotely, possibly, maybe, perhaps, consider to do that?" He looked around, now getting nervous at his predicament, and stated to the best of his ability (which wasn't much at that point), "Y-y-you said you would…I want lessons." I flashed back to the first day when I whispered in his ear as a tease and a joke, and he waited for an answer. The rest of the skulls waited for the command to tear him apart. I punched him in the face and threw him against the wall, and darkness began to form around my fists. My next barrage of punches were barely traceable, though they left a noticeable impact, and he was soon back in a garbage can, barreling down the road. This time, however, I kept speed. I caused quite a bit of damage jumping from one parked car to another, and just was able to stop the can with a well placed foot before it ran onto the freeway. I dragged him out of the can and grabbed him by his shirt, he groaned and I answered with, "Lesson one. Be ready. Seeya tomorra, slick."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Matriarch's shadow**

The problems with the Bone Matriarch's stories are mainly summed up with three words, "Too much information." She had a creative streak in her, and she deigned to embellish every one to the point of sensory overload. It did, however, make it easier to follow on his computer, (less actual facts per minute) so Inquisitor Rommel let her color it as she would.

Bone babbled on. "Now, this kid actually showed up the next day. He was still scuffed, but otherwise fine. I saw unmolded clay here, and the potential to make something useful out of the brat. I'm no teacher, as I'm sure you're aware, so my lessons were basically summed up as: Avoid getting tossed down the hill. Though sneak attacks were very effective for about three seconds, you can't always pull that trick out of your ass. That's why I'm no goddamn stalker. To his credit, he was a good learner. Is learner a word? Ah well. Anyway, he did improve his basic game, and for a little munchkin, was able to do significant damage. I had him fight one on one with several of my boys, but Eddie always wanted a piece. For some reason, however, his punches didn't do him justice. Though he was a fantastic brawler, his jabs didn't do what they should have to the kid. This made him perfect to make longer, drawn out battles. Eddie was on his way to Bone Daddy status, and his own mob of skulls to manage, but I wanted him around. His powers were growing, and you could just spot a bit of shadow in every punch. Therefore, I've come to the conclusion that the kid resisted our particular damage type to a point. There were never any real signs otherwise the fact he survived better than normal folks. So while the shrimp resisted Eddie's budding dark melee powers, Eddie was an opportunist. So we all got a good larf out of the "Dark Wedgee," and it always seemed to hurt just the same. Though a spirited fighter, there were problems with the kid. Basically, he just didn't do the damage he needed for a decent duel. Added to the fact that he had a height and weight disadvantage, he had other problems he couldn't solve with a growth spurt. He seemed focused, but focused on the wrong thing. The longer he fought, he more distracted he got. So in my knowledgeable way, I told him to spill the beans or I'd pummel him. He didn't want to say though, it was some secret he felt he needed to keep from me. I hate secrets. So when I threatened to start playing the super villain card, and make it real, he finally confided in me."

Bone shifted her weight, and took a sip of her mostly untouched latte. Rommel decided at the rate they were going, they'd definitely need more coffee. She was at the beginning of the story, and hadn't said a damn thing. Any further musings were cut short when she continued.

"He had an incident at school. Because of his appearance, he had always been a target for ridicule and jokes. I mean there are black jokes, and there are BLACK jokes. One day he was cornered and was mucho distressed, dude. Though he was kinda used to pain, there were stakes involved. It was much more violent than the normal teasing and he feared it might get really bad. Most signs pointed to race issues, but I wasn't there. It's a good guess though. Basically, his attackers came away with the same injuries my boys had, gashes with burning acidic pain. His spines came out. The other kids ran as fast as they could, and spiny the kid ran home to the safety of "normalcy" He couldn't escape rumors though. Word passed that he didn't just look weird, there was something wrong with him. He tried to address it as a medical condition, but no one believed him. God knows how he stayed in school. My guess is that his fam pulled some strings. Anyhow, only his cousin was his friend from there on for the longest time. So he didn't exactly have a lot to lose when he approached us. He was already miserable. He'd reach out to anyone who'd accept him. Suffice to say, I told him he should'a just shot everyone, but what do I know? My powers were acquired on purpose. He was born with the spines. He was usually able to suppress them, and that was his focus when he fought. When he was losing, he often just froze up and took the beating other than reveal his shameful secret."

Rommel, after pinpointing spines in the database, pulled up a list of meta-humans from the Kings Row sector of Paragon city. Bone looked it over briefly, then nodded, and continued. " I told him that he couldn't possibly fight in this situation. I said to embrace his gift. His look told me he couldn't possibly think of it as a gift. "Its an ass kicking license," I said, "USE IT!" I'll admit I had ulterior motives. Wouldn't you? You'd make him a hero. I got to him first. I wanted him to be OUR ass kicker. So I told him to relax, and make a statement. "I know what I want to say.." He said, "Get ready." Spines burst through his skin, and his eyes bespoke of clarity and relief from a long history of enslavement to the norms of humanity. And wouldn't you know it, the little bastard attacked me. I couldn't say I blame him what better test did he have? The diggers and death heads looked on astonished, some didn't know what happened, others had a clue. I'll admit this, also, he was free from his chains, and he was also a gigantic pain in my ass. Spines are as much as an armor as a weapon. You have to know where to hit them, and stay out of range of accidental impalements. But I had fought spinies before, and I worked the face, the only part of the body that didn't sprout 'em. His reach was longer, his bite was deadlier, but I had a reservoir of experience on my side. I knew a few more tricks, and though my reflexes did most of the work, I had a little help from a budding power of my own. Once in a while, he got too close, but his spines skimped off of an intangible streak of light. After a nice scrap, I ended things with my patented "Punch him in the face 'till he don't move no more" attack. And the sledgehammer Eddie threw my way couldn't hurt. It grew darker and more sinister, and I was just about to call the lesson over. I wouldn't kill him, but I'd make him think twice about treating me as anything but a superior. He, however, growled in defiance. So, obviously, I mocked him. it's a Skull thing. "I'm sorry, kid. All I hear is loser. Care to repeat that?" So he hunched over and made a noise half roar, half yell. "Suck Spines!" Crap. I couldn't dodge that. They were everywhere. I covered my face and hoped to god I didn't miscalculate my stance. "

"He was unconscious, I was in agony. and the walls were pitted and gouged by bony protrusions he had shot out of his body. I had a couple severe wounds to deal with, and my body was afire with pain. But… It was a good pain. I haven't been able to feel it in a long while. Eddie had taken the brunt of the damage from the side, he blocked most of the spines threatening my less protected boys. He pulled out any stuck in his person and willed his body to dull the pain. He kneeled down by me. "Wendy, are you alright? Here." He offered his hand, but he wasn't offering to pull me up. I siphoned his life force into my own body, thus healing myself. Every time I healed, he grew weaker. I continued healing, and he yanked out spines. In minutes, I was back on my feet, Eddie was resting, and the 'lil bastard was out cold."

The Bone Matriarch actually seemed to have a genuine smile on her face until she noticed Rommel watching her. She quickly put her mask back on in form of an expression that matched her smug tone. "I named him that day."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Family knows best**

Bone was a talker, Rommel decided. He had already typed up 5 pages of facts and suspicions for his own use. It was getting late too. However, he wasn't about to miss up a chance like this. This particular meeting with the Bone Matriarch had given him insights to how her brain worked, a stimulating thought behind the woman who was usually all mouth or muscle. Breaking off of his own thoughts, he asked a quick question. "What do you mean you named him? He was like a pet for you?"

Bone shrugged. "He was a project to pass the time at first. I saw potential and wanted to see how far he'd go. Luckily for him, he survived the first trials. I gave him an alias, just how I'm the Bone Matriarch. I have a real name. No doubt you have it in your files." Rommel just nodded.

"By the by, at this point, I never asked the kid his name. I must have had too much fun calling him "you" or "little bastard." So right about then I did ask him what his name was. I was going to invite him to join the Skulls anyway. He could cause a lot of damage."

Rommel interjected. "So he was a Skull?" He typed this into his database. The list disappeared. Rommel blinked..

"No, no, warden. He outright refused. He said it would be catastrophic if he joined a gang that was terrorizing his own neighborhood. He did, however want to stick around. So hanging with a gang, but not being part of it? It seemed he wanted the camaraderie but not the responsibility. In fact, by now, he owed me a favor or two for liberating him. At least he did tell me his name. I think mine was better than "William" tell you the truth. But not his last name. He refused that too. What a little whiner."

The warden deleted the previous entry and the list went back to normal. He sighed and motioned for her to continue.

"But he liked to fight. My boys liked to fight. In time, the guys got along. Thing is, he owed me a little something, so when we pulled a little job he was the lookout. Being young and dark, he fit in the eaves and alleys easily. Though it grated on his nerves, he did it. We were all he had, and I knew it. However, we hit a bank one night, and he ditched us. Like.. Seven of us got nabbed by three heroes. God, I was hot. Freaking tankers in my face? Are you kidding me? Nothing pisses villains off more than something that won't die. I sped around the area looking for him after the rest of us hoofed it empty handed. I found him huddled in an alley with a paranoid expression on his face. I grabbed him with every intent to dim his lights for good, but he asked me if the heroes followed me. The hell did it matter, right? I'm the one gonna pummel him, not those jerks! I asked him, "You cost us a lot Will, what the hell is wrong with you? You had the safest job there was, and you still blew it!" He squirmed, and looked around some more "That was my family!" What a bitch. He was hero spawn."

Rommel linked this new information to the database: relation to existing heroes. One more piece till he knew the identity of the threat they faced today. But now he felt for the kid in the story, but no matter, he told himself. The creature now isn't the same child Bone spoke of. But if he was a hero child… What happened to turn him?

Bone made a face. "Heroes. Bah! Noobs I can deal with. Flare chuckin flamers and illusionists outta Atlas, no problem. But these were full fledged HEROES, dude. Task force heroes, giant monster huntin' heroes. One could probably kick my ass at this point and wipe the floor with my skull pals. I needed information. And I was so pissed off my very touch ignited the fear he already had into full fledged terror. I interrogated him, Warden, you'd be proud. I got the goods on his fam, to if anything, be prepared when they found him consorting with skulls. Here's the last bit of information you wanted, boss. His last name was "Holmes."

The Holmes Family! The warden dropped all the names save one on the list. William Holmes. He'd be 28 now. But no one had seen him in Paragon for years. No wonder. He was gone from the city for a long time. "I thought he retired from the fight along with his family.." Rommel mused. Bone gave him a smile. She knew something he didn't. He hated that's smile. But he'd get to the bottom of this! "What were the relations to William and his family?

"You're right on track, Warden. I was getting to that. The most renowned of the family was big, bad, Poppa Jerome Holmes. Had a big 'ol axe and a fiery disposition." Bone grimaced. "Tanker. They called him the "Father of 1000 heroes." Did you know that? People think that he helped younger heroes get a start on the biz. They were half right. The guy very likely DID have 1000 kids. I mean he got busy. Willy told me he was a lot older than he looked. Being a mutant gave him long life, and he used every chance he got to swell the ranks of the inhuman. So right there, we can tell that William Holmes wasn't human. He was a mutant," She paused. "part mutant at least. Poppa J ran into the bank we held up hootin' and hollerin' and generally making a ruckus. He was yelling obscenities at us and getting the boys riled up. They charged him before I could rein 'em in. That was the start of our failure. He loved to be the center of attention, and he got it. I think he had a lot of impact on Will later on, he loved to fight, I think he took after his uncle J more than his father. Well, except that stupid duster he always wore. "

"So the giant flamer held my boys. Fine. Half of 'em had guns and such, so they fired away. The ones who closed in, however, got burnt. Okay, whatever. But then those shooting the big guy were thrown into the back wall through some glass. Someone sent in the hurricane. Yup. There's Joseph Holmes. A credit to his father's seeming immortality, he was old enough to be Willy's dad himself. However, he was his cousin, and closest thing to a brother he had. He just kinda hovered in, the eye of the storm, I grabbed who I could and raced out the back. Around 5 of us got out there. The rest were screwed. The diggers were held immobile, had their minds attacked with psychic powers, and thrown around like rag dolls with a mixture of the two. Bastard. I hate psychics too. But, Joey was good to Will, he told me. He was probably the most gentle of the top male influences in his life. "Strong but silent type" he described him. But he HATED skulls. In fact, they all had special loathing for us. The whole family thought we were screwing up King's Row. The place was a dump with or without us, but they thought otherwise. They didn't seem to want to chase us though. I should have seen it coming like the reflection in Joeys bald head."

The Bone Matriarch heaved a breath. She obviously didn't like recalling failures. The Inquisitor Warden took some satisfaction in this. "What happened then?"

She sighed. " A cranky old man beat the tar out of us. That's what happened! I didn't even bother to register him when we busted out the back. He…. Looked ridiculous. He had this big white beard and this huge white fro. Skinny as hell too. But he was fast. And he had SPINES." She let the last word linger. "We were fightin' William's daddy, "Uncle Quilly" Yeah, that was his hero moniker. He could stand still and hurt us. Poisonous needles just shot from his body constantly. Eddie took the brunt of it though, he had some choice words for him that caught his attention. He gave us the chance to run. Quilly yelled something about crackers and they wailed on each other." She looked at the warden. "If you ask me, not only heroes can be heroic. He got busted that night. I haven't seen him until recently. Heh…" Bone chuckled at the irony. "A skull hero."

The warden looked over his files. Quilly was a mutant alright. And also older than he looked. But he still looked old. Super reflexes, spines. Retired. The Holmes family had a reputation in the hero circles. They didn't respect other heroes very much at all. They were generally accused of "blacksploitation," or using their heritage to make themselves famous. Realistically, they were looked down upon for their actions if not their race. They liked to party. And party they did. Though they fixed any damages, they had a reputation to party hard and break things. They drank, a fair number smoked. But they were famous. They were on talk shows while other heroes were away fighting nemesis on bulkheads, foiling carnie plots, and hunting the clockwork king. Not that they didn't do any of these things, not at all. They had a very nice record of heroic deeds. They just publicized it. Thing was, they could pull it off. The whole family was charismatic and good looking. They had fan clubs. Other upholders of justice didn't like them getting personal with the public. They found it "unwise."

"Quilly beat him." That shocked the warden out of his musings.

"Excuse me?"

"William got hit a lot. By his father." She looked at him with a deadpanned face. "I don't know how many times he actually deserved it. But judging how the rest of the family acted, with all of this action and violence? How was it his fault if he got riled up, you know? He was a kid living with heroes. What a thing to live up to. William told me… Quilly took medication. A lot of medication. For what, he didn't know. He looked up to his dad in a sort of sense, but he was also scared of him. He was irate and paranoid. Quilly often told him his mother was a goat faced demon or some such, and basically stated he didn't ever want a son. I may be a Skull, warden. But you shouldn't beat your kids. Smack em upside the head, fine. Spank em, do what you will. But once or twice we met William with a scar or a missing tooth. We suspected he was fighting in school again. Mebbe he wasn't."

There was a silence that lingered on for an unknown passage of time that followed.

"But a family is a family. He didn't want to suffer punishment, he wanted to impress them, and he wanted to be a rebel at the same time. The kid was a multi-tasker. So I told him what happened. He even felt genuinely guilty about Eddie's arrest. I told him, he couldn't hang out with us every day anymore. He learned how to fight. Mebbe he shouldn't bring the spines out every time, but he got enough practice that he could handle himself. My job was done. But, I did tell him to visit. Arrests were a part of the lifestyle, and it was another whole test in itself. My boys would come out of prison harder and tougher, if I trained 'em right. Hell, even I went in and out of juvi several times. But I did give him a small token to carry with him. A small skull on a chain. It was a sign of a friend of the skulls. He wouldn't be picked on by us anymore. However, Hellions would target him more. There were more chapters of us around kings row. They'd all respect the sign. One last thing too, if he was ever in trouble, I told him the skull might help him out. Now, he was on his own. I saw him infrequently after that, and he didn't visit until the noise died down and my boys cooled off. And he had stories.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: His own man**

The Bone Matriarch took a break. Rommel did too. He passed the time to check his notes and stats on the Holmes Family and the other major players in this story. Though informative and especially interesting, he didn't see where it was leading. Even if he knew the background of the target, he wasn't any closer to stopping his rampage. He hadn't seen any cooperation with him and the Inner Circle, the group of super villains the Bone Matriarch belonged to. So that means he was either used in secret, or not affiliated at all, and this was a coincidence. Rommel didn't believe in coincidences. Even with their large database of information of secret identities, weaknesses, and powers, Longbow didn't know everything. That's why he was here.

The Inquisitor Warden earned his title by being observant. Like now, for example. The Matriarch was strolling around the room leisurely looking at nothing in particular. However, she would obviously make her way back to Harold and harass him a bit more in time. Harold himself was staring at her back in a way that bespoke irritation while thinking himself clever and sneaky. Bone's smile told Rommel that Harold was being neither. The nullifier standing guard next to Harold was trying her best to ignore both of them. She stood stiff and at attention, but was beginning to tire. She fingered her nullifier rifle unconsciously. She wanted this to end. The Special Ops stationed in the beams of the room had his binoculars out. Though cloaked, he was being painfully obvious, while pointing his vision at Bone's rear end. Rommel allowed himself to follow the spec ops's gaze for a moment, then shifted back to being the man in command. The Bone Matriarch was a fine specimen of woman, though. Tough, independent, and much more clever than most suspected. Sexy and sleek, if only she weren't evil she'd make a great hero… "Dammit, snap out of it!" Rommel reprimanded himself mentally. He was ten years her senior at least, married, and in charge of keeping filth off of the streets. He was getting tired too. But he wasn't going to give up when the information was going strong. He downed his coffee, called for more with his communicator, and began ready to start anew.

Bone idly juggled a ball of shadow she'd summoned and gave a quick turn back to her seat. On the way, she mentally compacted it into a tighter ball with just enough physical show to make it look much more extravagant than it had to be. With this, she fast pitched it upwards and knocked the spec ops off his perch. He crashed onto the floor, his binoculars shattering its lenses. Most of his extremities were pointing different directions. Harold and the nullifier as well as four other operatives with other weapons got their weapons up in a matter of flustered seconds. Of course by that time, Bone was already in her seat. "Ooh, can I get some coffee too?"

Rommel motioned the longbow guards back to their positions and called for a stretcher and coffee at the same time. "He got sloppy. Bone, are you ready?"

Bone simultaneously stretched and flicked off the entire room in one smooth motion. "Yeeeup. I got lots more. Oh, don't forget the sugar. I like lots of sugar."

After the message was relayed, she continued. "It was a while since we ran last, and my protégé was sixteen now. It seems William became a bit of a bully. A rebel really, he wouldn't take crap from anyone. He harassed everyone, and he said he got into a lot of fights, but none were against those weaker than himself who didn't deserve it. He liked to test himself and pick battles with those who were bigger and stronger. Of course he had problems with school officials, but he got himself out of any trouble he got into. We sat on a barrel in our alley and discussed how things were going with his powers. He was proud of how he handled himself now, he was a lot more confident. He hardly ever used his spines, unless he was making a point, and it was always controlled and inconspicuous. He wasn't liked other than from a group of boys with the same demeanor as him, though if it was true friendship or a desire to stay on his good side, he couldn't say. Either or, they weren't picking on him and he was happy to deal with that. On the other hand, one classmate in particular irritated him. He was a stiff individual, obsessed with rules and proper behavior, and railed on him at every opportunity. Soon everything came to a head."

Bone made gestures in the air, her fingers idly trailing black shadow behind them. She drew a crude stick person, added a spine or two, and animated it with her own will. It moved around in midair as if it were part of the story.

"They met in an older part of the school, it had been rebuilt several times and never demolished what they had before. So out of the teachers' prying eyes, Spiny was called out. The other kid called him a disgrace to the community, and a bully to boot. He told him he was a "useless disruption with no part in society." William responded by asking who he was.

The boy, who, my contacts say, would grow up to be a hero, unveiled metal gauntlets, and advanced on him, intent on pain and suffering. That was something Will could understand, and get behind, as long as he was the one dishing it out. For a while, he suppressed his spines, but dodged and weaved like I taught him. He avoided the gloves for the most part, but punching the guy was like striking a wall. He compared it to fighting Eddie, who has a case of some type of invulnerability. He grew up to be, something knight or other, I forget. He wasn't really high profile enough to keep track of anyway."

Bone blew kisses at Harold and made obscene gestures and talked at the same time. "So the spines came out, and the kid was really surprised actually, it was always really showy the way they burst out. My money is on the fact that he was new and hadn't heard of Will's reputation. He thought it would be a good old fashioned beat down, and now had another variable to deal with. So he had to fend off spines for a bit, but his armored gauntlets did a decent job. Still, with a couple holes poked into him, he pulled out a large broadsword seemingly out of nowhere. Now spiny had a problem. His spines could block or parry the sword, but it was sharp never the less. It sent shocks when he blocked, down through his body, and cut off a couple other spines when he parried. His wild swings, which he always prided himself on, had been deflected skillfully by the sword. Soon, he was bleeding and tired, and his opponent faring much better. In fact, he had to run up a low roof to escape his foe. But he couldn't run, not with half of the school watching him, his posse included. He had pride. He was good at one thing and that was fighting. It was pissing him off that he wasn't surpassing this punk kid in it. But then he said, "I remembered what you said, then. That this would help me." He fingered the skull I gave him when he talked. He said, "I was so pissed off that I just squeezed it, like I was willing it to help me, but then the damn thing bit me! I'm not sure what really happened, but then everything changed."

Bone licked her lips. "He had activated the mechanism I had installed into the small trinket. It inserted needles into his skin, injecting him with a nice healthy dose of Rage. Its good for what ails you!" She gave a pose.

Rommel instantly furrowed his brow. Rage was a designer drug that instilled the user with strength and as a side effect, made them especially angry. It was highly illegal, though he always wondered about the set of items they sold to heroes also called rage. Of course, they called those "inspirations," as well, not drugs.

"Will said that he got madder than before, and he focused only on his foe down below, who was yelling something he couldn't understand. He didn't know if it was his state of mind, or if he was just too far away, but either or, he got even angrier. The spines on his arms and hands seemed to point directly forward, towards his enemy by themselves, he said. They wanted to tear into him. The kids at school would call this one of the most amazing things they had seen, most likely blown into greater proportions with it happening during their childhood. However, my contacts in the crowd told me other sides of the story. These customers of mine said that the very air around William darkened like some kind of aura he gave off, and weird sounds that they could not describe issued forth. Others just described the spines launching themselves from his forearms with a great velocity and almost no effort. They knocked the "Knight's" sword from his hands and struck him in several areas. Will said that the whole world slowed down and he could only see the punk as a bright speck in the growing darkness. It was like slow motion, he said, or some kind of trance. He was then carried to his foe, spines intent on vengeance."

"The others in the crowd said that the aura they had seen traveled the distance to the kid on the ground. William was catapulted towards him spines at the ready and slammed into him, giving him a death grip on his torso. With a roar even the kids in the back heard, he released his spines again, like before, in a tremendous explosion. The darkness faded and with it, it brought vitality to his body and William was healed somewhat miraculously . He was still a bit nutty though, so most of the kids stayed away for quite a bit. . The medical corps got there soon after, someone called the cops and an ambulance shortly after the fight started. It was all in the papers. "Superstudent battle royale." ran as headlines, but since it was an strange case, there weren't any real clear victims. Besides, the family of the sword wielder punished him for not keeping his powers a secret until he was ready to become a real hero. Seems their family had the means to buy and use magical items, which gave him his powers. The Holmses on the other hand, were happy that William won the fight, and taught the kid a lesson. Other than the facts surrounding the fight such as reckless behavior and shooting spines everywhere around normal citizens, he got off easy. So no claims were filed and a fun time was had by all. Only in Paragon!"

"Of course…" Bone said slyly, "Mister Holmes wanted to know about the skull. He liked what it did, and wanted another taste. You know, just in case he needed it again. His powers were unlocked from it, and he had darkness to play with as well as spines. He was one of my best customers. He bought from me from then all through the hero life. That might be why he was a bit nutty. But I think it just freed him from his inhibitions. He also told me something kinda funny. His right eye tended to bug out on him once in a while. He could have sworn he saw some strange stuff when it did. When he was a hero later on, he always wore an eye patch over it. "

"After that, he was a celebrity. He was feared more and admired more. He got his share of dates with his bad boy attitude, and was always showing off in school. That's my boy. I was proud of him. He was a real hell raiser and an asskicker. I put my hand on his shoulder and told him so. And wouldn't you know it, the bastard blushed!

The Bone Matriarch chuckled at the memory. "Even what he went through, he was still innocent. Free of evil. Besides," Bone laughed again, "He blushed purple!

Bone's laughter died down and she deadpanned. "The next day his cousin found my skull charm on his bed."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six: Risks and Consequences **

Bone winked at her interrogator from across the table. " I used to make house calls, you know. For those with a large order to fill, I made the rounds. Yessir, I'm a people pleaser. I usually did it in the mornings then stood in my position in the afternoon. The reason is, that I have to go incognito. Police wouldn't second guess a skull knocking on doors. So I walk around to my customer's meeting places and give them the good doses, with no skull mask on. Big orders in the morning, dinky stuff in the daytime. However, William had heroes living with him. However yet again, it was unwise to carry a lot with me just to wait for him at my alley. So I changed the schedule and walked to his house so he'd be able to stash it right. He was positive he wouldn't get hooked. I let him think that. So I went in without my skull face, he told me his family was out on a mission. They said something about Tsoo, but he didn't know the details. I mentally went through my Tsoo checklist mentally. Even then, I had contacts. I've distributed to the Tsoo many times. They hit hard normally, but when the enforcers got inked, they liked to dip their quills in a little juice, you hear me? Pissed off ninjas, baby. I give 'em the diluted stuff though. Why sell the good stuff to the competition? I made a lot of contacts the day I got my Skull tat. A couple big shots were over at Mistress Ink's place downtown. I gave them a good deal, I got some good ink. Anyway, that's off subject."

"The house was deserted, so we went to his room to secure the merchandise. I had a lot of experience hiding contraband, so I was going to give him a couple pointers. When we were nearing the end of the exchange, the door downstairs opened. Footsteps were aimed our way, and gradually got louder. Knowing I was in deep trouble, I had to disguise myself fast. The last thing I wanted was to be revealed as a Skull in a hero's own home. My leather jacket and bandanna went out the window, and I tore through William's closet. My own tank top was a bit too revealing. You could see the skull glaring at you from just below my collar bone. I grabbed a t-shirt of his, and changed right in front of him, forgoing any modesty. Heh, he went purple again. The footsteps were right outside in the hall and I swiftly pushed him on the bed and sat down opposite on a chair and assumed a casual position. I made some comments about tests or whatnot when his cousin Josef opened the door and thrust my skull charm at William's face. He yelled at him, screaming "Where the hell did this come from!?" Will blanched and couldn't answer. He was looking guiltier by the second. At this rate, Josef would be convinced Will was involved in a gang, and that meant trouble for everyone. Will, because its obviously not the heroic thing to do, and me, because the family would be putting even more pressure on the Skulls than previously. So with him flustered, I answered. "He beat down a buncha skulls and took it from 'em!" When I spoke, Josef finally registered I was here. I think he was confused because William never really had friends over, and a girl no less! "Who… are you?"

"I like to think of myself as an actor in the greatest play ever. I reacted accordingly, without skipping a beat. "I'm Wendy, I'm a friend of Will's from school. I was with him when he did it." I put my disapproving face on. "They were trying to recruit outside, and he put them in their places. He ripped the little skull off of one of those thugs and kept it. Its kinda like his trophy!" I put on my winning smile and Josef just stared. He grilled William a bit more while I watched, and he had recovered enough to lie quite well. I left soon after his cousin did, for I had to grab my stuff from the yard before anyone noticed. After that, I vowed to meet him somewhere else. It was exciting to come face to face with a hero and come out unscathed, especially when you had met him before when committing a crime!"

The warden nodded his head, and his fingers flew over the keys. It was interesting to know that even though Josef Holmes was a psychic, he wasn't telepathic. If that was the case, he'd have sniffed out Bone's true identity that day. Any information on the meta humans that ran through Paragon was useful. Knowing the limits of heroes and the weaknesses of villains is what made longbow so good at their job, even if they failed many missions in the process. The truth is, even though they recycled agents through the medi-porters like mad, they triumphed more than any other organization had a chance to.

"I had a little surprise waiting for me back at my alley though. It was a special day."

Rommel raised an eyebrow, he had quite a good guess as the nature of the surprise. "That was the day.. Bonesnapper returned, correct?"

The Matriarch nodded. "It was the day of my downfall, when things started getting bad to worse and led to our "special relationship." She folder her hands and put on an angelic smile. It was to say the least, very disturbing. "You know the story, but you've never had a first hand recount, have you? I think you'd find the coincidences amusing."

The Warden shrugged, a very informal gesture for him. "We rotated the guard for this particular session, they're fresh and ready for your mischief. Why not?"

Bone laughed. "You're getting the hang of this, aren't you, chuckles?"

The Warden opted to remain silent. Bone continued her lengthy story. "I was pretty surprised to see Bonesnapper back. He had gone up the river for a couple years for multiple crimes. He was always pretty hardcore. We were an item for a while, too, he's the reason I was in the Skulls. However, he didn't look like he was happy. The reduced number of his troupe had instilled anger in his eyes, the only feature you could see behind his skull mask. Unlike my painted mask, he actually dug up a human corpse in his gravedigger days and fashioned his own mask. Even though the diggers and gunners in our mob told him they were successful in their own right, they couldn't explain why they had come up short in numbers, and without Eddie to boot. Though far stronger than Eddie, Bonesnapper knew of his gift of damage resistance and thought he'd go far. His incarceration infuriated him, and he knew of no one else to blame but me. He ranted and raved, and I gave him the same story I gave William that one night. Prison was an eventuality for most Skulls, so why put such a big emphasis on this case? Turns out they also told him about William."

Bone leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially, though the Warden was sure she was just acting yet again. " Accepting help from outsiders during jobs is taboo in the Skulls. He said that trusting the boy was a mistake, that I had let familiarity go in place of family. He gestured to his boys. And I'll repeat that. HIS boys. By now the others started to hang on his words. Even though he was a Skull and represented thugs and lowlifes, Bonesnapper was always a gifted speaker. Faster than I expected, they responded to his speech and rallied to his cause. He aimed to get his mob back and restore it to his "past glory." I had made more deals and was more successful than he ever was, but he neglected to mention that, and instead made sure to mention that I was yet a woman, and could never be a true "Bone Daddy." It was true, too. I had never actually been promoted by another Bone Daddy to be a leader of the Skulls. I sank further in the mire of accusations. I expected a minor show of violence, or to be demanded to step down as leader and submit to a Lt status or lower. I didn't expect for the whole mob, led by Bonesnapper to beat the crap out of me and sell me to their worst enemies besides the heroes : the Hellions."

"I was nothing but flesh to them, they treated me as a useless doll made of meat and had many plans in store for me. I won't get into details here, its not something I like to recollect. However, their final act was to sacrifice me to demons, for more of their infernal power. Wherefore we worship pure death itself, they praise demons for control over fire. Most of the time I was willing myself not to break down, not to submit to their control. I fought everything they did and was punished for it. However, one small thought rebounded in the middle of my mind, and that was, "Why is there a girl here?"

The Warden thought it odd as well. "There was a female Hellion? But even the lowest ranked are "Blood Brothers," not "Blood Sisters…" And by my accounts…" He ran his laptop through its paces. "there has never been an arrest of a female Hellion since we've started keeping records.

Bone nodded. "It bothered me too. I thought that I might actually have a chance to escape with this knowledge. If I could only talk to her, I might be able to persuade her to act on my behalf. She was obviously disturbed by what they did to me, a fellow female. Perhaps her gang imbued hatred would be suppressed by common sisterhood." She shook her head. "I failed horribly. The only time I was able to speak to her ended with her saying, "You're the reason I became a Hellion. I hate you." she walked away, I was dumbfounded. An hour later, the door burst in and I was assaulted with the sounds of combat. I saw spandex and capes. Oh, whoop-ee. Heroes. The fight didn't last too long, there was casualties on both sides, these were obviously noob heroes. If I wasn't bound I'd almost consider helping one or the other, before finishing those I've previously helped off. Not to mention the pain and malnutrition I had suffered. I was in no position to help even myself. The female Hellion took one look at the Heroes and unslung her rifle. She had obtained a "Fallen" status, a stepping stone to the powerful "Damned." She was much like me, I decided, but no friend of mine. However, when a figure stepped out through the broken door, and was quietly observing the battle, she turned around and ran like hell. Too little, too late. She was blindsided by a martial artist and a held in suspension with gravity manipulation. Before they were able to knock her around, they paused. They were surprised to find a female Hellion as well. To this, they called over the figure, and to mine and the girl's dismay, he hovered to their side. The light shined off of his shiny black skull and Josef Holmes tore off the ball cap she wore, the only disguise she had. He went ballistic. "Camille Holmes! What the flucking hell are you doing here!?" I gasped, not only was she a female Hellion, she was a Holmes. And if I guessed right, the same girl my boys harassed the day I met William for the first time. They argued openly now, familiarity breeding hostility in the fiery youth. Josef Holmes had her carted away, to fall under the hand of her father and other family members for punishment. Joesef rubbed his temples and his eyes wandered the room, his eyes finally settling on me. I however, wore civilian clothes. My skull duds were taken by my own gang before I was dumped in here. "Wendy?" he asked, surprised yet again. "What are you doing here?" I told him a concocted story about being captured by hellions for sacrifice. I was covered with bruises and scrapes, and I can only imagine what else. He looked upon me with pity and compassion, until a far away voice screamed "skuuuuuuull!" I was almost out the door with a super powered entourage when Josef tore my shirt in two, caring naught for my pride nor the other heroes' protests. My tattoo was revealed, and the congealing blood made it even more sinister. His eyes burned with rage. Somehow everything was clicking into place, the skull paraphernalia, William's rebellious streak and violence at school, and I'd bet Josef found the rage in his room. My presence there that day in William's room linked me in all of these things."

The Bone Matriarch flexed her fingers. "Busted. Fortunately, I was only linked to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even with Josef's urges that I was selling rage to his own cousin, he couldn't prove it and I was acquitted without a trial. Being a Skull wasn't a crime in itself, but with enough investigation, they could link me to multiple drug deals and random acts of vandalism, not to mention beating up a certain minor every day for a month! So instead, I spoke to the heroes themselves. They called themselves Quasar and Hi-fly. They were the controller of gravity and the marital artist mentioned before. These two had multiple friends doing the hero biz and I tried to strike a deal. Heroes are a funny lot, they're a lot more flexible than you'd think, especially the noobs. The newer they are, the more bent on fame and glory they can be. They want to get noticed and praised, and there are few exceptions. I know, they want to uphold "justice," but they're human, and humans are greedy little bastards. These were no exception. As I've said before, I have contacts within the Tsoo. Through them, I have contacts to others. These, I promised, to use for the good of that particular group of heroes, if I got off scott-free. If I got some protection, I'd inform them of the movements of the circle of thorns, freakshow, and warriors. Okay, I admit, it sounded like I was selling out my own. But I also asked for leniency towards my own gang, the Skulls. The heroes liked that idea. It seemed to be an acceptable trade. The skulls were minor game compared to other groups of villains. However, longbow and the police force had to be in on it to be truly successful. So to do the trick, I had to get an interview with a top longbow agent. I had to part with the most important secret I had, and sell out my best ally. One day later, longbow mobbed Mistress Ink's salon and jacked her of her magical inks and tomes. She had an extensive library of magical items she kept for herself, she was a collector of the highest degree. Oh, she fought back for quite a while, she's a surprisingly adept warrior. Only by pointing their flamethrowers at her cache was she subdued. Nothing would hurt her more than destroying her precious stash."

The Longbow Inquisitor Warden typed up Mistress Ink's file. Her slim features adorned the screen. She had markings on her face like leopard spots and her ears were slightly pointed. She obviously wasn't human. Her hair was in a modest bun and her glasses showed nothing beyond their mirrored surfaces. If you ever got the chance to see any part of her body besides her hands and face, you'd see intricate, beautiful runes and glyphs tattooed over every inch of her. Every one contained knowledge, she said. Bone always felt a bit guilty at betraying her. It ended her fine tattoo business for many years, not to mention the imbued tattoos she gave the Tsoo. It started a forced repossession of many of the magical objects she had sold to certain factions. The Circle of Thorns and Tsoo were the major sects, but The Carnival of Shadows and the Mu of Arachnos have also browsed her wares. She didn't sell them to be evil or fund evil. She was as neutral to the power struggle as possible. She did however desire more and more knowledge, and traded her magic for just that. Because of her betrayal, she had to initiate her permanent regeneration spell and take her katana out of retirement. For seven years she fought her old customers, and never had she taken vengeance on the Bone Matriarch, even though Bone personally felt she deserved it for destroying her quiet existence. She got to talk to Ink once more before Bone left for the Rogue isles. The Mistress's only comment to her old friend was "Don't worry. I'm still gathering knowledge. My life's work will continue. Just be sure you don't betray another friend." With that statement, she disappeared from her life.

"I did my part, but Longbow screwed me. Instead of the gang getting overlooked, it was just any cell I belonged to. Plus, murder and robbery would still count as an arrest able offense. However, I would never be casually mobbed by heroes and taken out in suspicion. All of the heroes above a certain point knew that. The newbies were only really qualified for taking out Hellions, Skulls, Outcasts, and Trolls. Nemmies and Carnies would wipe the floor with them. But, I really didn't mind much. With me on the team, they never had a chance. And if my boys were caught, they were usually freed on "probation." Talk about a get out of jail free card, eh? However, I didn't have any "boys" anymore. I made sure to remedy that situation as soon as I was done with my first objective. That objective was to pound pretty much anyone I could get away with and get more people on the inside. I'd jump into a troll den and wipe the floor with the Ogre in charge. Then id make a deal with the jutal I let escape unscathed. Superadyne for information? You know he'd go for that deal. Arms for the Outcast Chiller? Finders fees for vazilok lair information? I made a lot of contacts this way. Others I made in deals here and there. I even had Frostfire on speed dial for a while. I helped him evade capture from squads of heroes eight times before he was finally apprehended. Given that the bastard never left the same building, it's a good record."

"So after I got a little exercise, I went back to my alley. There was no monologues or speeches, I just walked in and pounded the crap out of Bonesnapper. I made a real mess. He was actually my Ex-boyfriend, did you know that? It was soooo satisfying making him piss himself in pure unadulterated terror. Life was good. Up till then, I wasn't a Bone Daddy ranked Skull, but after that little skirmish, and from what I did for them, I was on top again. I didn't really blame them for turning on me, after all, they were sheep. Sheep who love to smash and break stuff, sure. But they were only capable of following a leader's orders. But then, "Bone Mommy" didn't have the same ring as the male synonym. They worshipped me like a queen after they saw me beat down heroes by myself. I was elite, a goddess. So I became the Bone Matriarch. All the gravediggers are my children, and follow my rule."

Rommel let her pat herself on the back and expound on her greatness for as long as she wished. To argue with her or interrupt might make her less responsive for questions. He looked up from his laptop. "And where was William while you did this?"

Bone grinned. "William made a frieeeeend. Whilst I was gone, he dropped by the alley only to be shooed away by a member on guard. When he told him they were under new management, he must have assumed I was arrested. Surely he didn't tell him they sold me to hellions for a human sacrifice. When I got back, he asked me all about it. I merely gave him a short version, mainly consisting of, "I was on vacation." Then he told me about his new friend. To be frank, they didn't like each other at first, and I never liked him. You know when you come face to face with another strong personality? You usually don't get along. It's like the weather. Two big fronts make a thunderstorm and wreaks havoc. That's what happened in this case. They were at the high school's football game and he was yelling smack at the other team. This other dude was doing the same. Things got to a head and they started bitching back and forth. A shoving match ensued. The guys on William's side didn't do a thing to break it up. They knew of his powers. However, no one interfered on this other guy's side either. It ended up with my spiny friend tackling him through a fence into the parking lot. As with before, it was hand to hand combat to start, but soon William needed the big guns. The new guy wasn't big, he was built more like Will. Had a couple tattoos that he thought looked badass, and did I mention he was a black belt? He had kicks that could break 2x4s and vaulted Will into cars. That just started the fight in earnest. When Will broke out the spines, all the other guy said was, " Kick ass! Now lets throw down, you spiny assed bastard!" Even though the spines often broke his defenses, the guy wouldn't get hurt. His body regenerated damage as fast as Will dealt it. And William leeched this guy's health to feed his own. They caused so much damage that night, it was ridiculous. At the end, they were both tired as hell, their entourage had both disappeared in the riot that night.

Rommel became interested in this little fact. "Riot? What riot?"

"There was a massive riot that night. Everybody in the stands became really pissed off or something. They fought each other and it spread to a couple blocks away."

"Wait, I remember that." The Warden typed up a news headline from Paragon's Pride Newspaper and displayed it on his screen. "Here it is. "Football game turns deadly. Cheerleader team disappeared?" This was the same night right? I was in town for business. My niece goes to that school, I was worried she was caught up in that when I heard it. It says no one knows why it happened. They couldn't get a clear account of the reason the riot started."

"Right." Bone replied, "The jocks and the spectators were fighting in the bleachers. The refs jumped in, even the fearleaders got a piece before they disappeared."

"Fearleaders?"

"Yeah, the cheerleaders for the Neopolis High School's football team, the Terror. Its their little nickname. The Franklin Fighters cheerleaders all remained though. Some of them remember the Head Cheerleader for the Terror just kind of walking around and watching. Others remember brief glimpses of women with swords at the end of it before they blacked out."

"Wait, the Knives of Artemis? What was their role?"

"That's a story for another day, Warden. Can I continue?"

Inquisitor Warden Rommel nodded his head, determined to follow up this mystery later.

Anyway, When William and this kid stopped fighting, they came to respect one another. All past anger was dissipated and they became friends after that. Heh. Men. So this kid, he introduces himself as Miguel, but calls himself the Throw Down Kid, on account he'd fight anyone, anywhere. He relishes battle even if his healing power wasn't on full throttle as of yet. Seems this guy was the William Holmes of the Neopolis High School across town. They hung around a lot afterwards, and beat on gangs and such. William, however never touched the Skulls, to the Kid's confusion. He didn't like the Skulls, himself. This boy was fast friends with William for many years to come, and in all truth, the only real one he ever had.

Rommel had the new characters on his screen, with all the stats and characteristics they needed to identify them clearly. The Throw Down Kid later funded an organization for superheroes that were a bit different than others. Misunderstood and those heroes with issues came to "Damaged Goods" to show they were still useful, even if a bit nutty. Surprisingly enough, his secret backer for this super group was Josef Holmes. It seems he found his project he wanted to work on. In fact, even before that, Josef helped the young hero in his exploits with body armor and weaponry. Though he was a martial artist, he could still equip special gloves and boots to give an extra kick. The body armor compensated for his low level regen powers to help when a tough opponent hit him hard. The less damage up front he

took, the less his body had to work to heal himself. The other hero was Blood Sistah, Camille Holmes's alter ego. Rommel inputted gang activity into her background in his personal notes, since it was never on the official file. She used an assault rifle with several additions to fight crime. He supposed it made sense if she was going to be a "Damned" ranked hellion, that she had minor fire control powers. However, instead of slinging it, she was forced to just manipulate it from her rifle's napalm canister and create rings of fire. She left the limelight with her family, and Rommel wondered if her fire powers ever increased.

"So that explains his childhood and his connection with a couple other heros. But that doesn't exactly help us." Rommel said typing up a couple notes. "Things went so well for him, why is he doing this now?"

Bone shifted in her seat. Rommel wasn't sure if it was from nervousness or excitement. "Yeah, well, here's the part of the story you won't like… but just so we're clear, I didn't have ANYTHING to do with it…"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven: Green Eyed Monsters**

Everyone knows a story about blessings and triumphing over adversity makes a good story. Everyone also knows that stories about tragedy make better ones. Rommel took a sip of his coffee before preparing himself for what he thought might be a first in his career. Its not that he particularly trusted the Matriarch, but from what he saw in her face, it was a precedent for the books. What could have happened that the Matriarch wouldn't want to be mixed up in? She openly dealt drugs and had numerous felonies on her record. She has killed over and over again in her exploits verses villain groups with no medi-porter program like longbow or wyvern. He waited patiently for her to continue.

"You know the Holmes family? They were a different sort of heroes. If they hadn't been on the side of good, I would have probably gotten along with them. In my later days in Paragon, William and I went drinking on the town once or twice. He was a real party animal. He never invited anyone else, even though I always had a Skull entourage. No one would deal with me tagging along. But that's beside the point I'm trying to make. The Holmes family were all like that. Poppa J, Uncle Quilly, Madam Macabre, Big Smoky and Yogi. Most of em liked a good party. There were a couple that were a bit more serious, like Josef or Michael, but they all had a good time. The only reason I know this, and I swear it to be the truth, is because of my contacts within the hero business. The couple of heroes I helped out for leniency made a name for themselves and like all good dogs, I knew how to make them speak. Most of the time I just got them drunk. It was easy. Most bars gave heroes a couple freebies for their work, and because I showed up with them, I usually got the same treatment. And even if they wouldn't spill the beans about internal goings on, they bartenders would. They were on my tab, so to speak, and my price was information. When William was an experienced hero, he told me about a big score. They were cooperating with another group of heroes to rid an underground base of Banished Pantheon. Word was they had a lot of relics and were trying to summon a demon god to aid them do.. Er, something, I dunno. Whatever the pantheon does, I guess. So the Holmes family got all gussied up in their Sunday best and went to war. The plan was a coordinated strike against the main force, they had a lot of heroes there and would be mainly a battlefield. However they wanted to fight was up to them, but they did it at once in a large pincer attack. The Pantheon's shamans have a "holy hour" and this is when they'd strike. The whole family was there, including William. At the appointed time the signal was sighted and they rushed the room, intent on battle."

Bone crossed her arms and set her jaw.

"They were totally annihilated. The other Heroes never showed up. That's a good thirty heroes in close family or some branch of the tree killed at once. I'm not sure how it went down, but I knew what happened afterwards. As I said, I know the right people."

Rommel stared at his screen. The Holmes family were killed? That's impossible. They retired from the business. It was in a Longbow memo. There was a goodbye ceremony and everything on television. Who could have covered that up? Even Jerome Holmes had a farewell address on the news. Rommel looked at the Matriarch. She was giving him time to digest this information. "Then… who is running around now?"

Bone sighed. "William is alive. He resurrected himself after his own death. I'm not sure how it happened. Even he wasn't when he told me. He suspected no foul play. However, I'd bet he was so high on rage he didn't know what happened. Josef is alive too. I hear he's immortal, at least ageless. He must have escaped somehow, but he didn't show his face around Paragon for a long, long time. If anyone suspected that they were set up it would have been Joey, so it makes sense that he'd lay low for the time being. He's back in public, but that's only because the perpetrators are dead. Maybe annihilated wasn't the right word. More survived, but they were never the same. Plus, they didn't know their family's fate… except for one.

Rommel did a quick database search on heroes killed in action. The only thing he could find was a super group called "the Alliance." They were targets of assassinations for a span of a couple years. He checked the Alliance's stables. Hexitor, Snowblind, Slight of Hand, Steel Knight, Hi-fly, Quasa… wait. Quasar and Hi-fly? And Steel Knight? The kid from William's school? Things clicked together. "The Alliance was your pet heroes, Bone. What happened to them?"

"I told you before, I didn't do anything, remember? Keep that in mind. All I know is what happened. The Alliance was a stuffed shirt kind of super group. They put a lot of value into their appearances and how they were seen in public and on the news. They HATED the Holmes family. They weren't as popular by a long shot compared to these drinking, smoking, partiers. They were loud, obnoxious, and some were just plain weird. The public loved em, especially in King's Row. They were the home team and they took pride in their part of town. The alliance didn't like the fact that they didn't get any credit whenever they did a mission with their help. They didn't like the fact that they were never invited to talk shows. They also didn't like the fact that the Holmes family had ACTION FIGURES. In their view, the Holmses were too chaotic and wild, and were not hero material. So… they offed 'em, and covered it up themselves. After their "big score," they told the public that they Holmses were retiring, mebbe move to another city to help the police force on smaller matters. The farewell speech on the news was a complete fake. Slight of Hand did it all with illusions. He wrote the speech, made the Jerome Holmes that was shown on TV, and basically covered up their tracks.

I couldn't tell William. I didn't know if he'd believe me. Besides, he wouldn't listen to anyone anymore. He spent the next three months killing shamans and zombies in the hills of Talos, and I mean killing too. No arrests were made. He missed the entire farewell deal on TV, and no one commented on his continued "heroing," mostly because all he did was beat the crap out of baddies and leave 'em for the cops. The only time I got to see him when he came to get rage. . The only company he had was the Throw Down Kid. The Kid's super group suddenly went under for lack of funding and internal problems, so he had lots of spare time to go duoing with Will. When the rage subsided, Will spent a lot of time in my alley. I was no friend of the Holmses, but I'm not completely heartless. I talked with him whenever he felt like showing up. It's not like I had much to do anyway. I had a lot of things running smoothly by now. He wanted to find his mother, but with his family dead, he couldn't get any clues to her whereabouts. She'd be the only family he knew he had left, if she was alive. He'd never heard anything GOOD about her though, he didn't know if she'd even want him back. His father only bitched about her, and never even told her where she lived. The only thing he could remember about his mother was her scent. William always had a supernatural sense of smell and he never forgot hers. Sulfur and cinnamon. Thing is, he didn't know was that she missed him too."

Rommel risked a question. "Wait, you know his mother?"

Bone smirked. "I know everybody. I've known her for a couple years. When you finally meet her, you figger out why William was so special."

Rommel waited for her to continue. She didn't. He hated when she did that. "Which was… why?"

Bone shrugged. "She's a demon."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Family ties**

Rommel blinked. "A what?"

Bone blinked back. "A demon. Which makes William part demon, part mutant, and part human. His mother was an Allu fiend. She was half human too, and as I recall, her parents weren't in what I'd call a "blessed union." Her mother was basically enslaved to rear her until she was in her teens, when she was eaten by her own daughter. As I understand, its actually a natural occurrence. I don't know much about her father, I suppose he was an incubus. A master manipulator of emotions and a powerful demonic being. Incubi are the male equivalents of a succubus, which are demons more renowned for being sexual predators. They live on human blood and human emotions like fear and lust. William's mother, Ixxilithu, was basically a whore from age 16, when she finished off her mother and she had to find more blood to feed on. Given the fact that this was the rogue isles, a young prostitute didn't really stick out much. Whenever she was hungry, she had a customer. And they lined up for her too. She has the ability to change form into things you desire. Different ethnicities, fetishes, and body types made her the best at her job. Given her demonic heritage, do you blame her? She was surviving, and if she had upstanding moral fiber, she'd have died by starvation long ago. Usually she could feed on emotion and be fine. Other times, she'd have to have a more substantial snack. So she'd either drain a victim a bit or she'd grab him and snack at her leisure. She did it for years upon years. Demons have a long lifespan, and in that time she learned a lot of tricks to help her along. She has more powers than Statesman and more skeletons in her closet than Lord Recluse. Of course in this case, there are actual, literal, skeletons in her closet. When she slept with William's father, she became pregnant. She told me that she was supposed to be barren. Half demons aren't supposed to bear children. Since she became with child, she spent most of her time trying to kill Uncle Quilly. If he wasn't such a quick guy, he'd have died years ago. Every month that went past and her condition grew, she got slower and her chance at vengeance grew slim. It wasn't that she was mad because he got her pregnant, it was because she was in pain for most hours of the day. She bled often, it was like she swallowed razorblades. She never died from it just because of her demon blood, and really, it just prolonged her agony. I suppose William's spines were formed in the womb, and didn't just appear suddenly in his puberty years like normal mutants. When he was born, she wanted to kill him, but… she couldn't. Whereas half of her was demon, the other half was human, and she found the only compassion she'd ever felt in her life. However, what kind of life did she live to expose her child to? The rogue isles swarmed with villains and corrupt authority figures. At best, he'd end up being a beggar. He wasn't an incubus like her father, he was.. Different. So she packed him up and sent him to Paragon to his father. She almost attacked him while he slept in his bed that day, but she instead left him to his father to rear. After that, her normal life seemed pale and hollow, but she went on with it anyway.

"So, this.. Ixxilithu. Do we have a file on her? I've got a sneaking suspicion that we do. I seem to have file on everyone in this story."

"You do, warden. And you have a file on the only one besides me to even know about the Holmes Family Conspiracy. The Hellion Mistress, the Queen of the Damned."

The Inquisitor Warden thought hard. It snapped in his mind, more blocks fell into place. Like Tetris, the playing field cleared. "Camille Holmes! You said she was part of the Hellion Gang in her youth. That might explain a sudden increase in Hellion activities for a short time after the Holmes family disappeared."

The Queen of the Damned's profile came up. She had been a supporter in the gangs of the Rouge Isles for a short time, and he always thought she grew up there. Turns out he was mistaken. She had gone by many forms in her years as a villain. Featured on his screen was her original outfit, a nondescript jacket and jean combo, with a backwards ball cap. Blast goggles and a strip of cloth covered her eyes and mouth. Thus her identity was hidden from longbow. Later on, she got more and more creative, showing more skin and to think about it, the same duster her father always wore. Could she have turned evil for vengeance against those who did nothing to investigate her family's murder? She had recently fallen deeper into the Hellion's demonic worship, it seems. There were rumors of her assuming the form of a demon for a short time in a blast of inferno. Bone interrupted his train of thought.

"Right. She brought her knowledge of the hero world to better defend her only remaining family. They had much better success when she was on the field. She was an excellent sniper and was able to knock off a hero from hundreds of feet away. She was the perfect secret weapon for when Heroes came charging into a warehouse all willy nilly like they often do. In time, she dropped her rifle. She finally succumbed to the demonic powers of the Damned, and she was able to throw fire with the best of them. In a way, her priorities switched. From hardware and fire manipulation, to hardcore napalm strikes and lethal traps. She bugged a lot of Hellion territory, and lots of heroes stumbled over mines and caltrops scattered strategically around their bases. In time though, she focused more on revenge against the alliance. Like all Heroes, she knew about my involvement with the authorities. Unlike most heroes, she knew who deceived her family. She had escaped by flying out of an old volcanic vent in the caverns. She appeared outside close enough to the alliance celebrating their victory. Most of the major players were there. If she had attacked them there, shed get wasted. It didn't matter to her though, she'd find a way to get back at them eventually. So, interestingly enough, she sought me out. She didn't like me, but at least I tried to help William instead of killing him. She wanted their information and revenge. I gave her what she wanted and she paid with the last bit of family cash they had in their account.

The Warden put up a hand. "Wait, you're telling me, you sold information that directly led to the murders of.." He checked his database, "28 heros? What happened to "I didn't have anything to do with it?"

Bone gave a sheepish smile. It was obviously fake. The Matriarch was never sheepish. "oops."

"This is a major breach of your contract, Bone! I could have it all nullified and your head for this!" The warden was standing up now. "Why shouldn't I do just that?"

Bone calmly replied, "Because you'd only be defending the memories of murderers yourselves. They're guilty of the exact same thing, only for more petty reasons. If Longbow even knew about it, it was covered up and ignored. I don't miss either groups of heroes, but the Alliance deserved death. And, if the heroes ever DID decide to punish the Alliance for their crimes, they would have gone to court and been in deliberation for a decade before any progress was even made! And what is the penalty for murder, Warden? Imprisonment. Paragon doesn't believe in capital punishment. Oh, so I'm wrong then, right? I didn't have to help kill them? What would you think would happen to them in the Zig, surrounded by inmates they themselves put away!?"

Rommel sat back down. "I'm not done with this."

Bone shrugged. "You'll never get anywhere with it. As I was saying, over the next year, the members of the alliance were struck down by sniper rifles, car bombs, house fires, house invasions, all mannerisms of carnage. Most she did herself. Others were handled by Knives of Artemis or freelancers." Bone grinned, her serious mood shattered by amusing images, "Yeah, by this time, I had lots of folks on the inside. When the heat got close and she was in danger of getting burned, she fled to the rogue isles. There, she was instantly sought out by someone you know and love."

Rommel was getting into the swing of things. It didn't mean he liked the answer. He typed something into the database at his fingertips and a projected image showed up on the wall. A normal sized woman with blue skin, and darker blue hair. White and black tights covered up the rest of her body, and a pointed cape adorned her shoulders. Her major feature was the Large cycloptic goggles she wore which covered her entire upper face. In fact, the only skin you saw was her expressionless lips and her hands. Bone smirked. Rommel grimaced. "What does the Void Insurgent have to do with this?"

"William Holmes, of course."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: The Inner Circle**

There were few villains with such a means for chaos and domination as the Void Insurgent. Rommel had personally been to a base on a business trip in the Nerva Archipelago, when she had single handedly stolen a plutonium energy source they were holding for the research and development sections. The most irritating part of it was its casual nature. She walked in unarmed, and strode past the guards with nary a thought. When they opened fire at this known menace, the bullets were deflected six feet from her and scattered away, embedding themselves in the walls or other longbow agents. When she got to a locked door, it bent and shuddered, then broke as she walked closer to it. She was shielded by a personal force field, or as they informally call it, a "bubble." Even when longbow wardens ran in to intercept her, they were pushed away by an even larger field that kept them out of her way. In fifteen minutes she had reached the vault the power source was stored in, and personally deactivated the door's high quality shielding and barrier technology. The heavy door would never have been pushed away, but she clearly knew how to get around it. When the plutonium was in her possession, she nodded at the enraged longbow, without even a smirk, and teleported out of the base, with no trace left behind.

"So how'd you know it was Void anyhow?" Bone pressured.

"Well she's your boss isn't she? This whole story links every fact with another. Its only natural that now the Inner Circle is involved. That means that Void has something to do with it."

Bone chuckled. "Yeah, she's a riot, let me tell you. She's either got more contacts than I do, or she's a goddamn psychic. She knows everything about everyone, and there's really no reason for her to know. Its only too bad she doesn't venture out of the base anymore. When she was active, you only had to stay close to her to be almost absolutely safe from incoming damage. I've seen hero "bubblers," but they never compared to what she has up her sleeve. Plus, she's got some giant ass robots stored in the hanger at our base. If she ever decided to break them out, I dunno what she could do. But… for some reason she never has, tell you the truth, the ones you have seen are pretty small compared to those. I'm talking about transformer type big! goofy Japanese anime big! And to think, she used to be a hero."

Rommel sighed. "Void's file doesn't make sense. Yeah, she used to be a hero. In…" Rommel squinted, "Damaged Goods no less. The Throw Down Kid actually put her away after she went bad. Thing was, she didn't have any of the powers she has now. Her file goes way back, too. Before her hero days, she was a council galaxy technician. But then there was no file of her service either. Before that, she was a service mechanic for large aircraft and mechs for the Vanguard. And yet, no record. It seems she just showed up one day to these jobs with the qualifications and the proof she worked there. No one knew where she came from. This goes back seven years, every instance lasts a year, and every time, its different to boot. This one, the "Void Insurgent: Mastermind, is the first time she was actively evil, and has lasted for seven."

Bone shrugged. "Yeah, with all her power and toys, its amazing she's not the boss anymore."

"What? How'd that happen?" This was news to Rommel.

"Actually… I don't know. I haven't a clue what happened. One day she was the boss, then the next her Lt is in charge. Void told everyone by loudspeaker that he was in command, and that she would be in the lab if anyone needed her advice on something."

"Her Lt… Doomsdayve's in charge?"

Bone nodded.

"That explains some things. There has been a more aggressive nature to the Inner Circle lately. There isn't always much of a plan either, more of a desire to destroy, and to spread terror and carnage."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up!" She crossed her arms, "Tell the truth, I enjoy it! it's a lot easier to accomplish and understand."

"I'm going to have to look into this. Doomsdayve's reaching archvillian status fast."

"Knock yourself out, boss."

Rommel studied the Void Insurgent's file for a moment. "Tell me what the Inner Circle has to do with William Holmes."

"Gladly. I get to have your unwavering attention some more." She gave him her winning smile. He blanched. "As I said, Void knows freaking everything. She picked a day, and a time where it seems everything went wrong." She held up a finger.

"Lusca attacked Independence Port."

Another finger.

"Trolls were raving in Skyway"

Her favorite finger.

"The Circle of Thorns summoned Baphomet."

Another finger.

"Paladin was waltzing around Kings Row"

Yet another.

"The Mayor was kidnapped by nemesis troops."

Yet another finger.

"The Hellions were burning down buildings in Steel Canyon."

More finger action.

"Clockwork were disabling and dismantling police cars and attacking any cops who tried to stop them."

More and more.

"Captain Mako was sighted with a horde of Crab Spider troops in Peregrine Island.

You guessed it.

"Devouring earth were running amok in Founder's Falls."

This is getting ridiculous.

"There was a bomb threat on the Atlas statue"

How many fingers does she have?

"And, Hamidon suddenly showed up. You know, like Godzilla."

Rommel sighed. He remembered that day, He himself was on route to intercept Mako on the bulkheads of P.I.

"And while all of these things happened, there weren't many heroes to help out the piddly little King's Row third national bank. All of the heavy hitters were elsewhere."

Rommel's eyes widened. "Except…"

"That's right, William Holmes. But then he actually had company. The Throw Down Kid was in attendance too. He was in the area and was determined to support the King's Row citizens over ritzy Founder's Falls. They got there just as a monster exited the bank, cash in hand. The First Born Son wasn't really surprised to see them. But then why would he? It certainly didn't stop him from setting TDK on fire. Nor did it stop him from fighting William. The both of them were shrouded in darkness, and the Kid didn't know who was who. By that time, William had almost mastered his darkness powers and was a shadowy figure with spines jutting out of it in random intervals. It was actually a close fight, and spinal only emerged victorious with massive burns and injuries. TDK was too weak to leech off of, and the dirty alley was out of sight of the citizens. The Kid was about to go get help, when another foe, this time a smaller winged, pale slip of a girl shoved a long knife through William's chest. He went down with a gurgle. Then the First Born Son got up and only glared at the little demoness, his sister, Death By Sexy.

Rommel brought up the two demon's files. The First Born Son was a beast of war, who wielded power over flames and chaos. Darkness followed him wherever he placed his hooves, and his huge stature inspired fear in lesser beings. Even just being close to him warped the minds of those with no mental training, causing confusion and soon afterwards, horrifying burning death. All history claims Enoch, the First Born, has lived for centuries, relishing in battles and wars of humans, either in human form, or sowing terror in his own bestial self. He represented pure chaos by way of power.

Enoch's sister, Sera or Death by Sexy, represented the other half, cunning and intrigue. In her mad schemes, she always loved to manipulated people to do her bidding then betray them in the worst way possible. She had multiple ways to do her business, with means of suggestion both subtle and overt. She was skilled in physical combat and with her own innate powers. Where her brother always ruined her plans by barging in and destroying them with his own hands, she delights in ruining his agenda by turning them upside down with mind games and confusion. The siblings were always at odds, but surprisingly, not this time.

Rommel interjected. "By all of our accounts, The First Born Son and Death By Sexy never actually made a team of any kind. Our sources say they hate each other.

"They do. With a passion." The Bone Matriarch held out her hands in an expansive gesture. "That only makes it even more poignant, when they agreed to do this just once together. At this time, the two demons were arguing in their natural tongue. TDK just hoped he'd be able to heal in time and somehow save Will. To his rescue, Josef Holmes swooped in on a whirlwind and buffeted the little demoness through the air. The demons were faced by someone godly, and they reacted naturally. Death by disappeared, only to reappear behind Josef and strike him with her knife, then use some sort of power to thrust him towards the earth and immobilize him. She cackled in midair as she's wont to do. First then proceeded to breathe fire on the subdued hero, and before TDK could even think of helping, a massive thunderhead exploded in the alley, thrusting the demoness into the air and she wheeled out of control, in some sort of mad dash for safety. Josef followed her flustered flight, chasing her out of sight. The thundercloud sent lightning to deal with the other demon, knocking him off his hooves and electrocuting him, giving TDK more time to drag William close to the trash cans. Within seconds, he rose again, stealing the souls of a thousand insects and taking a bit of TDK's regenerated health for himself. He rose, unhurt, and they bore down on the now freed First Born Son. The demon leaped away, in massive bounds, but William tore after him in pursuit, his mutant energies driving him at high speeds. TDK "requisitioned" a parked motorcycle and sped off after them. I've got to remember to try that some time."

Rommel surfed the web whilst she talked, and book marked the Paragon Pride's articles of this very day. "Demons Bring Nightmare to Already Hectic Day" chronicled the robbery, and made only minor mention of a dark man showing up to fight them, but no mention of his name. The fact that Josef Holmes came out of hiding on this day showed his devotion to good, even when he was in danger in the public. Saving his cousin and his friend further proved his allegiance. Could it be possible, he wondered, if he had found him sooner, would William have kept his cape?

The Bone Matriarch continued, with a light in her eyes. She was coming to the exciting part, as if a fight with infernal creatures was an everyday occurrence. Though truly, in Paragon, it almost was. "You might be wondering where I was at the time. I was acting on a deal of my own. I was promised a spot in the Inner Circle at this time, it was my charge to keep anyone out of an old apartment building. I had heard of the Void Insurgent before, but never met her until she appeared before me, and offered a place in an epic moment in time. She may have been exaggerating, but it was still a generous offer. People as powerful as her tend to accumulate wealth, and I wasn't opposed to that. Besides, I wasn't sure how long id be of help to you guys, but don't worry, I'm glad I'm still in employ to two major factions. Of course with her vast knowledge, she knew all about our racket. She really didn't seem to care. In fact, she never really seems to care about much. Anyhow, I stood at the doorway, blocking access to normal folks when William and the Kid sped up. I had missed the fiend accessing the building from up high, but they obviously haven't. I was just about to tell them it was off limits when a voice echoed in my ear. It said "Let thossse two enter… Lock them in." I wasn't sure who it was, but I was certain it was an ally of the Void Insurgent. Tell you the truth, I wasn't sure I could have stopped them to begin with. The both of them had been in the hero biz for quite a while now, and had considerable security clearance. After they had entered, albeit cautious, I spotted another figure in the distance. It was another hero, wearing blue and white tights, with a giant bulls eye on his chest. He barreled through the Skulls guarding through the door, only to slam into the building. Skulls leapt upon him, immobilizing him. "Let me enter!" He exclaimed, "I must help my comrades!" This was Suicide Rush, another college of the Kid's, though I wasn't sure how he was involved. Later on, I learned he was following an anonymous tip he had received. When refused access, he electrocuted those connected to him, blasting them from the area, but that didn't stop four sledgehammers and twelve pistols from ending his brief struggle."

Rommel brought this new player on the scene up with his laptop. Rush was a man with an interesting affliction. He was immortal. However, it wasn't his idea. He went on the most suicidal missions when he was a hero, and fought giant monsters solo. Every time he died, he would get back up, dust himself off, sigh, and continue looking for something that could kill him. He never accepted a Hero Medi-porter chip for that very reason. The only thing longbow didn't know is why and how he turned evil. Perhaps this would shine some light on the question. He wasn't seen in Paragon after this day, unless he was creating random chaos. Even more of a coincidence, he was another in the defunct Damaged Goods super group. Probably the most damaged of all, he thought with a chuckle. Rush had technological gloves that emitted a force of energy, and conducted energy over long distances. However, he didn't fight from afar most times. Instead, he fought hand to hand, when he was very seldom at an advantage.

Bone continued. "However, a few brief seconds after he went down, he got back up, no worse for wear. He looked genuinely disappointed. As I learn later, he always was eager to find the day he didn't get back to the land of the living. But the Skulls were having fun, so I let them get back to the fight. Every time he died, he took a couple with him, though I was sure he was pulling the punches. The Skulls were knocked unconscious or rendered powerless with electrical surges. He was giving them every chance he could other than stand completely still, where its no fun at all, now is it? The cycle continued eight times, and at this time I noticed a little something out of the corner of my eye. A man in tattered clothes sat in our alley, paying only the most casual of attention to the goings on, but his eyes glinted in the fading sunlight with a hidden agenda. He wasn't causing any harm, not to us at least. There was faint movement under his dirty cloak whenever Rush got back up. Whenever he got back to his feet, the shadows began to gather to him like an aura. They infused him with some sort of energy, that clearly didn't affect his battle prowess, but from the way he was acting, it might have an effect on his mind. My Skulls didn't notice, but with my powers, I like to think I'm more perceptive in this field than most. Rush was yelling gibberish, but was also running out of Skulls. When only three were left, he ran off, not in fear, but in total confusion. He was screaming "Damn kids! Get off my lawn!" The tattered man slowly followed. I let him pass without incident, after all, he might be a hidden ally. I wasn't sure how many of Void's followers there were in the city. After a tremendous explosion at an intersection nearby, all was quiet, except for sounds of battle high up in the building."

"Now everything I'm going to tell you now is all hearsay and second hand knowledge. I wasn't in the apartment, but I can tell you from different accounts what happened. Both William and the Void Insurgent recalled events, Void the most clearly. She seems to have a photographic memory to the smallest detail, and though it was utterly boring story telling, the substance if it was very interesting indeed."

"When TDK and William found the room the First Born Son had leaped into, they came face to face with him yet again. But this time they were more than a match for the winded beast, and outnumbered him as well. However, it didn't exactly matter, when the First Born Son suddenly teleported away from some unseen force. In his place, however, from a side room was a large man with an angry expression. Chains adorned his arms and fists, and he wore a surgeons' mask on his face. His hair was wild, swept out of his face, giving him a look of recklessness. Other than that, he was almost someone you'd see walking down the street on any given day. Well, except for the glowing aura of hate that originated from him. That's kind of an important detail. William and TDK launched an attack at this new foe, driving fist and spine into the large man's torso. They both rebounded as if they attacked a wall. The man responded with a punch of his own, driving TDK back through the door, and past the one opposite the hall. "Sheeeit! Who is that??" He rebounded back into the room, hurt but already mending. The man with pure anger in his eyes only responded with, "I am Doomsdayve. And I am your end."

TDK rolled his eyes. "That's a stupid name."

"Though it might be useful to make other villains angry, it only increased Doomsdayve's power. So it was no surprise when he pummeled them both within an inch of their lives. Any damage they could have caused was stopped by Doom's iron like skin. The whole battle lasted for maybe five minutes. When Doom grabbed William in his steel grip, TDK found himself imprisoned in a bubble of force, unable to act, and unable to change what was going to happen. Only then with the two threats eliminated did the Void Insurgent appear. She approached William and softly clapped her hands. In a quiet but strong voice she spoke. "A valiant effort, William. If only you used your powers correctly." William swore, and Void turned to the captured TDK. "Its nice to see you again, Miguel. I see you've still retained the spark of life which made you so resilient. I'm sorry things never worked out between us. My awakening put us on opposite sides, and I could not help but do what I had to, to regain my strength." TDK was never one for fancy words. "Shut yer yap, you annoying bitch! I should have broken your jaw with my "Shut the fuck up punch!" It would have made you SO much bearable."

Void only shrugged. "I only decided you should know the reason. I have expected no such other reaction." She turned back to William. " I have an offer for you. Please wait until the end to answer, or it will only prolong your current state."

William spat. "This is when you try to make me evil right? Well you can forget it. I might be a vicious bastard, but I'm not evil. I was brought up right."

Void almost smiled. "You were? I wasn't positive you even had a family. Well not anymore. They were destroyed by your own." William's eyes widened at the mention of that day. "The Banished Pantheon was only half of the plot against you. But have no fear, those who acted were summarily punished. I just want to inform you, William, that you are different than those other heroes. As cliché as it may sound, you will never fulfill your true potential as you are now. You need guidance. Would you like to know who killed your family? Would you like to know how to create your own destiny? I can give you all you desire."

Will sneered at the goggled woman. "I'm a hero. People need me to beat the hell out of people like you. So why don't you make Dumbsdayve let me go so I can finish things!" He flinched when Doom tightened his grip.

"Calm yourself Doom. No need to get excited," Void reprimanded.

Doom only growled.

"People need you, Mister Holmes? Perhaps. But do they need you over the other heroes in Paragon? And the question really is, do they acknowledge you?" William sneered, but listened.

"I spoke only the truth, William, when I said you were different. This fact made you an outcast in life, am I right? Darker than most by far, spines jutting from your body, white hair, you're utterly demonic. A face only a mother could love." She paused for a moment. "And through everything you put yourself through to save the citizens of Paragon, have you gotten any appreciation? Anything other than "Oh, thanks, I'm leaving?" My guess is no. Other heroes dislike your for your brutal ways, however effective. They got so jealous and hateful of your existence… That they murdered your entire family.

William gasped and narrowed his eyes. "What do you know?"

Doomsdayve put William down just in time to intercept TDK flying at him. Their rematch ensued in earnest, Doom being tired of inaction, while the Kid was fighting to rescue his friend. William, on the other hand, was too caught up in Void's new proclamation to even notice. The thing that had consumed him throughout the years was his family's death. He was desperate to know what happened.

TDK put up a good fight. Fully rested and renewed from his fight before, brought his fist right into Doom's face. Though it hardly did any damage by itself, he changed his strategy to darting in and out of his reach, chipping away at his defenses. He grabbed anything that could be used as a makeshift weapon, chairs, lamps, anything to enhance his normally powerful attack. Though a big man, Doom wasn't slow to act. He often countered the smaller hero's attacks with a force of brute strength, and even a clip to the shoulder knocked him back off his feet.

Doom spoke with malice in his voice, but also a hint of excitement. "You fight well. If only you weren't so weak!"

He punctuated his speech with a overhand haymaker that sent the Kid halfway crushed through the floor. The floor joyces downstairs creaked with the impact. "Get up. I'm not finished with you yet. Heal for me, so I can rip you apart."

He picked up the kid only to get a foot in the face, disoriented for a moment, Dayve threw him up, intent on spiking him like a volleyball. However, TDK was faster. Grabbing the ceiling rafters, he escaped his wrath for a moment. Doom narrowed his eyes, and started floating up to meet him. "Shit! Why can everyone fly except for me?!" TDK looked for an escape route. Instead, inspiration struck him, and he flung himself down to meet the bigger man, booting him in the face, and sending him down to the floor again, while using that force to get back up to the rafters. Doom rose with rage in his eyes. He stamped his foot in anger, the shockwaves almost knocked the hero off his perch. Seeing opportunity, he stamped again, and again, attempting to dislodge the martial artist. Soon, the Kid was hanging by his fingertips, almost in range of Doom's long reach. One last stomp reduced it to one hand, but his own foot was suddenly stuck in the floor. TDK's last ditch effort, while Doom was unwittingly standing on the already reduced floor, was to drop down and add his own considerable weight with a smashing double kick to Doom's skull. While he jumped off onto solid floor, Doom crashed through to the room below, and the one below that, and the one below that… Unyielding indeed. So much for the floor."

"Void and William hardly noticed the fight, for she was still telling him all about his supposed destiny. There was power in her words, TDK knew, whether it was supernatural or not. A terrific force slammed into his side, and laid him out before he even knew it. He laid panting in pain, while the perpetrator slowly advanced on his friend."

"…. so fight now for yourself, not those who disrespect you. Instill fear instead!"

William still wasn't convinced. "Leave all I know to go with you? I don't know your intentions. I think I'll stay here instead, thank you very much."

"The Void Insurgent stood with arms crossed, even when a spine slid out along William's arm. He whirled around at a strange noise and for a flash, saw a hand pass before his face, then he saw nothing. Though he was aware of a presence, he could see no one but the Kid laying on the floor, and Void standing quietly behind him, nodding if listening to a conversation. His sense of smell was going haywire though. His eyes widened and he forgot all about his friend laying injured when he recognized it: Sulfur and cinnamon."

"Sinister Soul slowly became visual in front of her son, and she stood with the same expression on her face. The crimson woman who left him in Paragon 26 years ago saw her own blood again, and her human half was overwhelmed with compassion and relief."

"M- Mother?" William stuttered, his only family left was his own estranged mother, who had followed these villains to his doorstep. All questions were silenced when she crushed him in a maternal hug.

TDK watched the scene. The young looking crimson woman wearing a revealing outfit was embracing William with no concern for the spines that were slowly receding. "Dude.." he mumbled, still stunned, "your mom's hot…"

William, now released, shot question after question at his mother, who answered them in turn. Void just watched and nodded, someone snored in the background, and behind it all, Doomsdayve floated up through the hole in the floor with his eyes ablaze.

"William," the Void Insurgent said, " have you made a decision now? There may even be more surprises if you return with us. We can be your family now. Trust me, its not so different than being a hero.. You just fight for yourself instead of disrespectful citizens."

She turned to Doomsdayve. "David, control yourself." He stopped and glared knives at his mistress.

"He must die."

"He might be more of a challenge, David, if you leave him to get stronger." The woman put her hand on her chin and cocked her head. "Destroy him now, and he will never be more than a insect to you."

Doom narrowed his eyes and nodded. His battle aura calmed and he stared at the Kid, who was beginning to stir.

"William… Lets get out of here. We can get Joey! Then we'll kick their asses!"

Will looked at him then his mother. "No… I'm going with them."

TDK let out a string of obscenities. "Don't listen to them! They're lying to you!"

"No, I have a family again, Miguel, I'm sorry, man, but I don't have anything here anymore. Cousins don't compare to a real family. I never had anything close to a real father. And… well, if I can't get respect from the people and the heroes that represent them… I'll have their fear.

TDK knew he had made up his mind. It had been coming to a head anyhow, though he had hoped that the return of Josef Holmes would bring up his spirits to return him to a heroic attitude. But when he was trained by a Skull and given birth to by a demon, what chance did a guy like TDK have to dissuade him? Even he had his own shameful past. But unlike William, he wouldn't accept the easy way out.

"Will…" The Throw Down Kid said evenly, "You'll never have my fear. But you've always had my respect." He disappeared out the window, jumping down to escape the coalition of villains."

"Five minutes later, the apartment was empty. Words echoed in my head again, with a slight hiss with instructions once I get to the domain of Arachnos. I sought out my contacts in the Rogue Isles a couple weeks later after longbow planted me in the Ziggursky Prison. It was my time to do the same thing that I did over in Paragon, with a whole new cast of characters. William was surprised to see me in the Inner Circle, as well as his cousin Camille. She had been ecstatic when he appeared, she jumped on him and gave him a hug like a little kid, not a super powered pyromaniac. After that, Sinister Soul took him away to teach him of his birthright. Its that man you face today."

Rommel finished typing the backstory of William Holmes, and clicked back on Sinister Soul's profile. A demon, she had many powers, unlike normal villains and heroes. Most have powers revolving around a specific ideal, such as ice or fire, others healed, others withstood damage. Ixxilithu, aka Sinister Soul, was a whole new breed. She was very quick on her feet, had the power of flight through wings, and controlled powerful blasts of inky darkness. Added to that, she could go invisible at will, had razor sharp nails, change her form to suit her needs, and manipulate intangible forces such as mind control and sonic waves. She was normally a background figure in Inner Circle missions, but now that she had her son back, she was being sighted more and more lately, constantly coaching her son.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Spinal Shard**

It had taken Bone hours to tell her story, including breaks and changing the guard. All in all it would make a great addition to a memoir. However, interesting as it was, it didn't exactly tell Rommel how to stop the monster who was unleashed upon them today.

"Well Bone, as always it was a pleasure talking with you, and I use the term "pleasure" loosely." Rommel said, inspecting his data. "At least we can put a name on this threat, and possibly sanction some anti-demon weapons to use on a hunt. But tell me, what exactly happened to William after his mother started training him? After all, he's not a full fledged demon, he's only, a third, if anything. Is he acting alone, or is his matron helping exaggerate our findings?"

Bone stiffened like she was focused on something else, and almost missed his question. "Well Warden," she said slowly, "Will has many more powers now, it seems that his mutant genes function to enhance what demonic heritage he has… or that would be my guess. Mutants always have awakenings, times where they suddenly learn of their powers. I'm not sure if he had one already, and those were his spine powers… or possibly it was his shadow aura. But I do know that everything he's had is stronger and more potent. Its possible he hasn't even had an awakening, and he could add something more to his arsenal. I mean, there's a lot of potential here. He could get mutant powers, innate demonic powers, traits that his mother taught him, I'm not sure of all of them, but I can tell you a couple I've learned."

Bone glanced to her side as if she heard something, the guards following her gaze. She quickly shifted back to the concerned Warden. "In addition to his spines, his strength and speed have increased, as well as a measure of stealth. His shadow affiliation spread to his spines and makes them dark… like obsidian. After they are separated from his body, they persist for a moment, then dissolve in the air. He's also got a power I dub a "shadow step." He just kind of melds with the shadows and disappears. It's not invisibility. He's just not there. Then, instantaneous almost, he's somewhere else. Of course, he can't go somewhere if he doesn't know where it is. He needs to have been there first or have a beacon there he can focus on." She paused. "I don't know why Will was so important to Void. He hasn't been any use to the Circle for quite a while. But then I've stopped wondering about her schemes. They're incredible. I mean, if she doesn't use her assault robots, what is she going to use? The only thing a person like her is ever going for is domination of the country or the world. And before you ask, I can't give you anything on her… I just can't."

Rommel added everything to his laptop. "Any idea what his weakness could be? A creature of the shadows could be susceptible to great light or energies. Perhaps a more mystical power against a demon? Could we poison him?"

Bone shook her head. Rommel looked closely. Was it him, or was she getting pale? "No, you cant poison him, I'm almost certain. His body is infused with… he's got a strong resistance to toxic damage, and he… " she put up her hands. "No, Its been fun, but I'm done here, I'm not feeling well." She got up to leave, but didn't walk towards the door. She just mumbled, "Uh oh."

Rommel scanned the room. His elite guard were visibly shaking and sweating. They were obviously nervous about something. Even Bone was affected somewhat. He stood up. "What's going on here? Bone? What did you do?"

Bone averted her gaze and took a step back. "It wasn't me."

"Then who!?"

A massive spike of a black so dark it seemed to suck in the light burst through the Warden's chest in a shower of blood, gore, and toxic acidic death. Rommel could only make a gurgling sound when it picked him up and impaled him to the table, lodging him in as if he were a part of it. His blood spilled down the wood work. He blew bubbles in his own bile.

An living shadow leapt upon the investigation table, hunched and growled. His figure became more solid, and his pitch black form was offset by a wild mane of bone white hair. One eye was covered in a patch, which glowed an eerie red light. He was bared to the waist, and his pants were torn and tucked into a pair of bloodstained combat boots. He leaned in close to the choking warden, who was desperately trying to heal himself of his wounds, with a slowly dissipating spike driven through his chest.

Bone dived beneath the heavy oak table.

"I'm Spinal Shard, Bitch!"

An explosion - like bones shattering - echoed down the longbow halls, drawing concerned looks and worried shouts. Inside the interrogation room, the walls were pitted by projectiles moving at the speed of shadow. The longbow guard never had a chance, they were immobilized by pure fear, then hundreds of spines. The bony missiles splintered their bones and split their skulls, each foot of the wall was covered in slick blood with a lingering haze of shadowstuff. Four longbow agents were teleported by thier medi-porter chips, the others were left behind to an unknown fate. Rommel was freed by the large spine, but filled full of holes by the others, and he was fervently trying to heal himself. Bone limped from up under the table, she had been hit by shrapnel, but was otherwise unhurt, if not a bit disturbed. The fear aura had dissipated and she was extremely aware of how much its grown.

"Bone," Spinal Shard said in a voice like some sort of bestial predator, "where?"

"Uh, left boot."

Without a second glance, the dark man flicked his wrist, and the warden's left foot flew across the floor, severed by an elongated wrist spine. The warden screamed and Spinal Shard gave a fanged smile. Then he turned to Bone, who was both impressed and a bit worried. With the death of her longbow contact, she could most likely kiss her informant biz goodbye. However, her train of though was derailed when Spinal got close, still all spines.

"Whoa, cowboy, not to close. I've seen where you've been."

Spinal shard narrowed his eyes at his once trainer.

"Hey, you don't exactly look glad to see me, er, how've you been? You've gotten pretty kickass. Didn't I tell ya?" She gave him a playful punch. He grabbed her wrist, and twisted it. She widened her eyes. Something was definitely wrong. Her shields of kinetic energy couldn't protect her when she was already in contact, either. If she couldn't break his hold, they couldn't become active.

"Hey now, it's me, your friend, the Bone Matriarch. Remember? Kings Row? All the fun we had? I sold you the stuff that made you so badass, you know?"

"Bone." Spinal Shard removed his eye patch. The red orb was made of more light than tissue, and it stared into her soul. "You have no friends. Only allies."

Her previous words returned to haunt her.

"Hey, I was just playing the part, you know? Come on, let me go."

Bone's hand was getting numb fast. It was like all the blood that traveled there disappeared at the wrist. It was cold and getting pale.

"I mean, what would your mother say?" She tried her damned best to smile.

So did Spinal.

The Matriarch screamed. It seemed she'd never stop.


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue: Legacy**

The Bone Matriarch woke up on a throne that was as much filth as splintering wood. Her wrists had grown so emancipated over the last months that they slipped out of her manacles. She could hardly remember a thing during her imprisonment. All she could hear was screaming. It took her five minutes to figure out it was her. Her strong form was degraded to a skeletal figure, awash with pain. Her body was covered in welts, bruises, cuts and scars. Her belly was distended like a starved child in a third world country. It made sense though, she was starving. Her stomach felt like it was eating itself. It was all she could do to stumble out of the door.

Fortunately, she knew the prison of the Inner Circle base well. This particular base was an outpost where they launched preemptive attacks on longbow assault squads. It was built into an old cliff face, a relic of some forgotten race. Its stone walls hid clever traps and hidden doors. However, the halls were silent. How long exactly has she been in this place? Was it abandoned? She had so many questions but no energy to answer them. They hung in the air like dust motes in a sunbeam.

It took her the better half of an hour to make her way outside, there was no sign of her colleagues, but there were some people she recognized. Groups of longbow swarmed the area, inspecting relics and statues, digging for who knows what, and inspecting a burnt patch of ground nearby. She tottered like a child trying to walk without a wall to hold onto, and made her way towards them. Their conversation reached her ears, unfamiliar to the speech of others after all this time.

One longbow operative in an evac safety suit inspected the patch of 20' or so casually with some sort of machine. "Yeah, so this neon chick runs out of the base, right? I mean it was insane. She just kinda made one guy stop moving, then she ran all crazy like all over the place! She had like a purple jacket and neon green pants, and a pink flatop. It was hard to look at her, really. Its like she dressed herself when she was two and said, "yeah, that'll do!"

The other listened intently, leaning on his machine. It resembled a metal detector, but was hooked up to a beeping monitor nearby. "Oh, man, that's insane. I was all the hell the way over there, and I was stuck in a snowstorm. In July! Those damn super powered showoffs. That Hail Frost bitch threw icicles or something at my feet, until like five chasers started after her. I almost froze my nuts off over there. We had to deal with Fire Shock and that Energizer Zombie, we just swarmed them with spec ops guys until they were stuck. It wasn't that tough. Well, until Energetic Murderer just kinda zapped everyone. That sucked."

The first one laughed. "Oh man, you had it tough. All she did was just yell gibberish at us. Spally likes to go boom! Then she sapped a buncha guys so they just stood around, kinda tired. She didn't do a lot of damage, well until she screamed "Zap! You're sterile!" like fifteen times and shot a couple guys in the nads. Myself included. It really stung!"

"Oh crap. Sterile?"

"Yeah, I'm shooting blanks. What a bitch."

"Weren't you and Stacy trying out for a kid?"

"That we are." "Well, have you told her yet?"

The longbow smirked. "Hell no!"

"Hah! You bastard."

The bastard gave a quick bow. "Yeah, so get this. You know Harold on team 51? That neon chick jumps on his head and starts beating his head like a bongo drum. Everyone's all worried about shooting him so they just kinda mob her instead. I stood back though, I was still massaging my "pride."

"Then what happened?"

"She freaking NUKED everyone. The only thing that was left was her giggling like a nut job and saying " Spallation go boom!" Man, I wish I could remember her name."

A thud behind them got their attention. The Bone Matriarch was lying facedown holding her gut, moaning. The longbow almost reached for their weapons, but instead yelled at their warden.

An warden ran up with a strange clunking pace, and kneeled down by the emancipated Skull mistress. "Holy crap! Its you! We thought you were dead!"

Bone opened her eyes a bit, then widened them with disbelief.

"Rommel!? I thought YOU were dead!" She glanced at his foot. "What the?"

His left foot was replaced by a metal prosthesis, where Spinal Shard had removed it.

"Yeah, Bone, I forgot to thank you for leading that madman to our base. I really hope it wasn't intentional in your case. I've a mind to lock you up, but I can't do it with you in that condition." He helped her up, and slung her arm around a rifleman's shoulders. He tried to heal of her obvious wounds. An empath is an empath, under all circumstances. Since we thought you were gone, we attacked one of the Inner Circle's bases. We didn't have much to lose now. Spinal Shard and Sinister Soul haven't been around lately. The problem might have solved itself, though not without casualties."

Bone groaned and held her stomach. The pain was unbearable, and it seemed to reject being healed.

"By the way, Bone," Rommel said eying her belly, "do you know who that glowing white woman was?"

Bone only grunted in agony.

"I'll take that as a no. I've never seen her before either. Whoever it was, she vaporized a whole contingent. I'm surprised you were alright inside the base. We've been avoiding it since she went back in. Come on, we'll put you in protective custody, until we can make up our mind whether we'll press charges. Careful now guys."

Rommel handed her over to his guards and started to inspect the computers nearby when Bone's shriek split through the air. She was clutching her stomach, willing the pain to go away. She pleaded with it as if it were a living entity, entreating it for mercy. When that didn't help, she actually beat it with a weak fist trying to subdue the pain.

It kicked back.

**The End.**


End file.
